Damascus -

"I had a strong and unusual headache, and I lost my appetite completely, and I was only able to have some hot drinks for 5 days, during which I was thinking of a way out of the predicament I found myself in, and by the end of the fifth day - and with all options exhausted - I collapsed completely as a result of the low severe blood pressure.

With these words, Osama, 34, - a displaced Syrian to the Damascus countryside - describes to Al Jazeera Net what happened to him when the owner of the apartment he rents - taking advantage of the lack of a lease contract - told him that he and his family of 3 must vacate the apartment or double its rent to fit a wave The high prices witnessed in the regime-controlled areas at the beginning of this year.

After a week-long search, Osama could not find an apartment for a “reasonable” rent like the one he was paying to the owner of the old apartment, he says, “I searched in most cities in the countryside of Damascus, and the prices were imaginary, and most of them exceeded the rent that I was paying by double or double the amount, and I was not able to pay at that time. More than 50,000 Syrian pounds (a dollar equals about 4 thousand Syrian pounds), which is almost half of my monthly salary.”

After losing hope of finding an alternative apartment on time, and receiving a threat from the owner of the old apartment that he would drive him out of the dwelling, even by force, Osama entered a state of depression and overthinking for 5 days, only to end up in a private hospital, after he fell to the ground as a result of a sharp drop in pressure. blood, as shown by the doctor, who was satisfied with prescribing some sedative drugs.

Syrians are increasingly suffering - in regime-controlled areas - from psychological disorders as a result of the steadily deteriorating living and service reality for more than 11 years, with the poverty rate reaching 90%, according to a report by the World Health Organization.

For his part, the director of Ibn Sina Hospital in Damascus, Ayman Daaboul, confirmed - during an interview with the semi-official radio "Sham FM" - that the hospital has recently received large numbers of patients with all mental and psychological conditions, noting that the most common diseases are psychosis, mania, addiction and depression. .

Ibn Rushd Psychiatric Hospital portal (communication sites)

From 20 to 30 patients per day

Daaboul added - in his speech to the radio - that most patients who visit the hospital suffer from depression, and that the hospital receives from 20 to 30 patients daily, attributing this increase in cases of mental and psychological disorder to two factors: the first is "pressure and the psychological factor", and the second is "the difficult economic situation." .

Daaboul revealed that there are many patients who pretend to be ill to evade accountability or a case, such as fraud and mandatory military service, in addition to women who want to divorce and resort to the hospital to escape from their husbands.

According to Daaboul, there are patients in the hospital whose relatives have not asked about them for 30 years, and that many cases that the hospital does not accept or that become eligible for discharge after recovery are not accepted by the parents, in order to evade the responsibility of caring for them.

Daaboul pointed out that Ibn Sina Hospital in Damascus receives "severe" cases only, due to the lack of psychiatry specialists and cadres working in it, especially for male nurses, since most of the nursing staff are female and it is difficult for them to deal with mentally disturbed cases.

While Dr. Mahran - a specialist in psychiatry and mental illness from Damascus - confirms in his talk to Al Jazeera Net that the economic collapse the country is witnessing and its repercussions on the living reality is the most influential reason for the spread of depressive diseases of various severity, as "the pressures caused by the fear of Syrian families not to The possibility of securing their daily pension is one of the pressures most affecting their mental health.”

Dr. Mahran adds, "Doctors and specialists are powerless in front of these cases, because their root does not lie in the patient's inability to deal with the effects of a reality that can be overcome or defeated, but with a reality that exceeds the patient's ability to overcome it."

It should be noted that there are only two hospitals for mental and psychological illnesses in Syria, namely Ibn Sina Hospital, which covers 7 governorates, and Ibn Khaldoun Hospital in the Aleppo governorate and the northern region, in addition to a sub-division in Al-Mowasat Hospital, and Ibn Rushd Division in Damascus.

Patients Department at Ibn Sina Hospital in Damascus (communication sites)

45 psychiatrists only

Ayman Daaboul indicated last April - through a radio interview - that the number of psychiatrists does not exceed 45 doctors in all of Syria, while the country - according to the population - needs about 10,000 psychiatrists at a minimum.

Daaboul attributed the increasing shortage of medical personnel for psychiatric and mental health specialties in Syria to two factors: material and social, as doctors are moving away from this specialty as a result of low wages after graduation, in addition to the social stigma that can be inflicted on doctors in this field.

While Dr. Mahran believes - in his speech to Al Jazeera Net - that the matter is directly due to the lack of development of hospitals and specialization in the country, and to the desire of doctors in this field to migrate to countries that pay attention to these specialties commensurate with their importance, in addition to the appropriate wages that they can receive. Psychiatrist in those countries.

He pointed out that many psychiatrists decided to migrate outside the country after the outbreak of the war, the collapse of the economy, and the significant depreciation of the lira against foreign currencies.

The shortage of medical personnel in Ibn Sina Hospital for Mental Diseases since the beginning of this year has reached a great extent, as there are only two doctors in the hospital today compared to 480 patients, while the hospital needs 30 doctors and to cover the large shortage of nursing staff, according to Daaboul.

According to estimates published in a research within the International Journal of the Red Cross - entitled "Mental Health during the Syrian Crisis: How Do Syrians Deal With Psychological Effects?"

In 2019 - about one million Syrians (4% of the population) suffer from severe psychological disorders, and 5% of Syrians suffer from moderate psychological disorders, and that about 90% of cases of disorder are not subject to follow-up due to a lack of specialists.

While UNICEF Representative in Syria, Bo Victor Newland, revealed that a third of children in Syria show signs of psychological distress, including anxiety, sadness, fatigue or frequent sleep disturbances.