Our situation is terror of dying any minute. As much as possible, we portion food and water. Every day, there are long lines for food and drinking water. We don’t know when we feel the wrath of the airplanes as we are filling up our drinking water.

Fear and worry all around the clock, day and night. We barely sleep interrupted 3-4 hours, because the madness of the attacks escalates at night. 

Our kids are terrified. My son is a year and a half old and he doesn’t get off his mom’s lap or mine, he doesn’t eat, he just wants to nurse. 

In the midst of all these conditions, there’s big hope that things resolve in a minute. Every day we thank God that we still have life in us. 

Roo7 – Anonymous Mental Health Professional (for fear of being targeted)
24 October 2023

حياة من قلب الموت: سلسلة عن تجارب اخصائيين نفسيين تحت القصف – القصة الثانية

حاليا وضعنا رعب من الموت بأي لحظة. قدر المستطاع الاقتصاد بالاكل والشرب. كل يوم طوابير على الخبز ومية الشرب. وما منعرف متى ممكن ينزل علينا غضب الطائرات واحنا بنعبي مي.

قلق وتوتر على مدار الساعة, ليل نهار. طبعا النوم ما بزيد عن ٣-٤ ساعات متقطعة، لان القصف بصير اكثر جنونية في الليل. اولادنا مرعوبين. ابني عمره سنة ونص مابنزل عن حضن امه او حضني، ما بياكل بس بدو يرضع.

في كل هاي الظروف في أمل كبير انه تنحل بلحظة. كل يوم بنشكر ربنا انه ضايل فينا حياة.

روح – اخصائي نفسي في غزة

(غير مسمى بسبب الخوف من الاستهداف)

٢٤ تشرين الاول ٢٠٢٣

About Mental Health Professionals Under Attack

Dr. Dinah Ayna, a clinical psychologist and mental health consultant and a member of UPA’s International Advisory Board, has been supporting our Healing through Feeling team in Gaza since 2018 and continues to support those she can reach throughout this war. Two weeks into the recent aggression against Gaza, Dr. Ayna agreed with different mental health professionals inside and outside UPA on the importance of sharing their stories with the world. The professionals wrote their experiences in Arabic, and Dr. Ayna then edited, translated, and sent the stories back for final approval from the original authors before sharing. Authors also sent pictures that were edited to protect their identities and published, with approval, along with the stories. Nicknames were given to those who did not want to be identified.