On August 4, Beirut was ravaged by a double explosion, which left 177 dead and thousands injured. Since then, the Lebanese capital has tried to heal its wounds. Many residents are traumatized by the scenes of chaos. Some even believe that the catastrophe caused more mental damage than the war.

REPORTAGE

The images of the explosion of last August 4 in the port of Beirut marked the whole world: smoke, rubble, gutted houses, collapsed buildings. After these scenes of chaos, many Lebanese remain traumatized by this violent disaster, which surprised them in their daily lives. Some have even started to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Scenes that run in a loop 

"Everyone was running everywhere. There was blood, we only saw red," recalls Hadeel, who re-examines these traumatic scenes on repeat. At the time of the explosion, she was in the worst affected area of ​​the city, with her friend Aya. She can't get over what she's been through either. She needs to take tranquilizers regularly to calm her panic attacks. "I'm shaking about it now, just thinking about it. I can't sleep, not even two minutes. I'm absolutely traumatized. It's the slightest noise, the sound of the glass, the sound of the TV. There everything. right now, just talking about it I get goose bumps. It's terrifying, "she testifies.

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More mental damage than war?

Aya says she developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. And she's not the only one. Therapist Eliana Kay spends her day on the phone with over 15 new patients every day. According to her, this sudden explosion caused more mental damage than a war. "We lived normally, we did not expect to receive what we received. When we are in a war, we know that we are in a war, so we expect bombardments. wait for the thing, the consequences are more acceptable between quotation marks ", develops the therapist. For her, the hardest part is going to be accompanying a population that is not used to asking for help and dealing with the traumas that may have arisen in this country still recently affected by war.

The double explosion that ravaged the port of Beirut and part of the city left at least 177 dead and 6,000 injured.