By Chitra Kalyani
CAIRO: Tahrir has recently been the epicenter of intense emotions, and news from Egypt has had psychological effects on adults and children worldwide. While those closer to traumatic events are more susceptible to consequences, psychologist and neuroscientist Dalia Danish says second-hand exposure to events – such as watching events unfold from one’s balcony or one’s television – can also be traumatic.
Stress can be caused by both positive and negative events, said Danish in her lecture entitled, “The Revolution—Stress: Symptoms and Ways of Handling it in Adults and Children.” A certain amount of stress is healthy, like challenges at work that one overcomes to find fulfillment. However, exposed to extraordinary stress and trauma, one is likely to undergo Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The audience attending the discussion in Arabic at Sawy Center on Monday was keenly aware of the topic.
Revolution and PTSD
“Your basic need is safety, when that is jeopardized, there is a large potential for PTSD,” Danish told Daily News Egypt. One’s sense of security was threatened during the revolution, when families had guardians patrol their neighborhood nightly for fear of thugs. Recovering from those stressful times, the new Egypt has a distorted understanding of normalcy. “Whereas previously people took pictures of their children with a giraffe, now they take pictures near a tank,” said Danish, illustrating the shift since the revolution.
Children
The exposure of children to images of violence and insecurity during revolution days was considered normal, and many desired their children to participate. “People took children to Tahrir,” said an audience member.
Danish maintained that to avoid PTSD, children needed to be protected from both indirect and direct exposure to violence. “Children need to watch a maximum of 1 to 2 hours of television, and that too, a children’s program, and not news on television.” Allowing children to watch their father from the balcony with knives conveyed a sense of imminent danger and was unacceptable, said Danish.
According to Danish, 77 percent of children exposed to shooting and 35 percent of urban youth exposed to community violence develop PTSD. Many children in Egypt have manifested their disorders in various forms. Playing “you play thug, and I’ll be Father with the knife,” children mimic events that were a source of insecurity. Also, while drawing a family portrait, children may include fathers or brothers carrying knives.
Answering questions on helping children through parenting and teaching, Danish said children needed to be discouraged from role-playing instances of violence. Also, providing children with a set timetable, where they are aware and secure regarding the day’s events, can restore a sense of normalcy. Children that exhibit symptoms of PTSD such as hyperactivity, or isolation needed to be treated with patience, said Danish.
At school, especially, the work load could be reduced to lower the stress on children. “Instead of five tasks, you could give them three, and you could break them down into chunks,” said Danish. An atmosphere of safety was most important, and then a sense of discipline.
Adults
Despite its success, the revolution could be a cause for PTSD for those involved. “The goal [of the revolution] was freedom, but the path to freedom was traumatic for a lot of people,” Danish told DNE. Substance abuse was also prevalent during the revolution and may have restarted for some that had previously overcome it.
As with abusive marriages, trauma can become normalized. “But it’s not normal,” she said, “and people have a hard time understanding that they have actually been harmed.”
Yet gauging from the personal nature of some questions, Danish noted a positive indicator that people were aware of their stress. “Awareness is the first step in recovery,” said Danish.
As with children, adults need to reestablish a sense of routine to overcome stress. This is difficult given the current atmosphere. Circumstances were predictable in Mubarak’s 30-year-old regime. Now, said Danish “we’re unable to predict the future. Everything keeps on changing really fast.”
In situations of uncertainty, a sense of order could still be achieved by taking charge of what one could. “Don’t set abstract goals. Set achievable goals and organize your day accordingly and know that you’re in control.”
On Democracy: Free expression and decision making
Danish also saw an alignment between democracy and psychological health, as both allow for an opportunity for freedom of expression. Audience participation in the discussions following the lecture was notable, both in the number and the nature of questions. Many asked questions on health, depression, and decision making.
One member expressed reservations regarding the desirability of democracy, saying the previous one under former premier Hosni Mubarak had not worked.
Discussion easily merged with the political when Danish noted that we had not experienced democracy as such. She noted in contrast the elation of the day of the referendum, where many felt their opinion was heard for the first time. “But because people were scared, many were easily influenced to vote yes or no,” Danish later told DNE, adding campaigners played on voters’ desire for “stability.”
Given previous inculcation, an audience member expressed, “we want a leader to control us.” In electing a leader, Danish told DNE, one is likely to commit the “fundamental attribution error,” which is to be swayed by influence of personal, and underestimate influence of social. For example, she said, people would make decisions regarding a leader by his personality and neglect his agenda.
“Clarity in communication, and in explaining the situation,” is what is required both in families, and in society at large, according to Danish. People needed to act on “verified information, put emotions aside and think objectively and clearly.”
In the absence of a venue of expression, “Tahrir has become a habit, and soon it will lose its value,” said Danish. “If you have a real democracy, you don’t need Tahrir.”
“It takes revolutions to communicate messages to authorities,” noted Danish. “People need to trust their intellects, even if they’re not intellectuals, and communicate their decisions and their opinions.”
