The largest humanitarian crisis in this century is most notably the Syrian Civil War. With 400,000 casualties and counting, the situation in Syria right now is dire. What started as a peaceful protest in support of the Arab Spring movement (a series of pro-democracy protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa in 2010), quickly turned violent when the Syrian Army got involved. The Syrian Army led by President Bashar al-Assad brutally killed and detained hundreds of protesters. The government's unjust actions exacerbated the people’s anger and before long, a rebel group aiming to overthrow the government, The Free Syrian Army, was formed.  Syria then began to slowly dive into a civil war. Things escalated quickly once the war started and soon both sides were fighting with chemical weapons and bombs causing widespread destruction. Lives were greatly affected, with many wrapped up in the middle of the conflict. Innocent children are being scarred physiologically every day due to these traumatic events, and yet they are often denied the care that they deserve due to the stigma surrounding mental illness and the lack of physicians in Syria, but there are still ways to help.

The Syrian Civil War has claimed and destroyed thousands of innocent lives (and counting). Many were bombed, while others were caught in a crossfire. However, ironically it is the ones who survived who are hurting the most. As much as physical scars are painful and devastating, it is the physiological scars that hurt the most and hurt the longest. The physiological harm from experiencing such a traumatizing event is often overlooked and not discussed. The Syrian civil war is not the only factor in the increase of people battling with mental disorders, but it does contribute to a large part of it. And, the children in Syria are at the center of it all. Every day they are exposed to an unimaginable amount of violence without the knowledge of why or what is happening. These children have watched people die in front of them, sometimes even their loved ones. Feelings of sadness and anger manifest in their minds and many times, they would try to block these emotions by trying to forget about it. However, this only causes their distress to bottle up inside them until it explodes. Incredibly heavy burdens are carried on their tiny shoulders. They go through many sleepless nights in fear of being bombed. And when they finally fall asleep, they are haunted by nightmares that wake them up screaming in the middle of the night. These memories would continue to haunt them into their adulthood and without proper care, these children are sure to fall into a trap of violence, depression and even suicide

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Mental conditions do not just disappear within time or with little help, it follows you everywhere you go, never leaving you alone, and constantly reminding you of all the traumatizing events on replay. These children who have suffered immensely needs guidance, proper care and someone who would educate them and watch over them so they could strive towards a brighter future. There have only been a hundred physicians before the war in Syria and once the war started, half of them fled. With few physicians in Syria and the large stigma surrounding mental health there, children are reluctant or unable to receive help. Furthermore, foreign aid does not reach Syria easily as they are currently a war zone and many volunteers may be reluctant to go to such a dangerous place. Fortunately, there have been many volunteers with NGO’s (Non-governmental organization) such as UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, Save the Children and The Red Cross that are willing to send physicians and medical professionals over to help. There have also been multiple countries who are helping by receiving refugees and resettling them.

Countries should provide a safe environment for the refugees and focus on providing mental health aid to children and their families. In addition, mobilized mental health aid should be placed throughout Syria so that it could be easily accessed. An easy way for us to help is to educate people about mental health and remove the stigma surrounding it, especially in developing and war-torn countries. We could also help by donating to NGO’s or even volunteering with them. With our help, these children could get back on track towards the future that they deserve. These traumatizing events could break them but with proper help, these children who have suffered immensely could grow even stronger.

Conclusion

  The Syrian civil war has destroyed thousands of lives both young and old. The younger children has known nothing but war and destruction in their lives and the adolescents are denied the possibility of building their own future. Everyday these children  live in fear and despair exposed to an unimaginable amount of violence, scarring them physiologically for life. To exasperate the situation, there's a lack of physicians in Syria and having mental illness is often seen as a taboo.

Although things may seem bad, there is still hope. There are many organizations that are doing their best to help, and there are many ways that we could help too. Collectively, we can change these childrens' lives for the better.