The Psychological Impact of Stopping Humanitarian Aid in Syria

The World Food Programme announced that it will end its aid program throughout Syria in January. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that about 90% of Syrians now live below the poverty line, with more than 15 million of them in need of humanitarian aid. The percentage of families that have reached a state of hunger is about 4% according to the Syrian Response Coordinators Organization.

There are undoubtedly many negative effects of reducing humanitarian aid to the poorest families, one of the most important being the psychological impact. The lack of basic needs and living requirements imposes various types of mental illnesses on the human psyche. We will quickly unveil some of these to highlight one aspect of the danger in the absence of the ability to secure life’s necessities.

The Syrian people are predominantly productive and active and do not rely solely on aid. However, the negative consequences of the war, constriction, weak labor market, and reduced purchasing power have forced poverty and need upon certain segments in Syria.

Psychological Effects:

• The term poverty can be likened to the breaking of the back’s vertebrae, symbolizing need and deprivation. It becomes more painful as the need for life’s essentials like food, drink, clothing, and shelter increases.
• Regardless of the definitions of poverty and individual income levels, anyone unable to secure their basic needs can be considered poor. Thus, food aid (while not solving Syria’s poverty crisis) helps families secure life’s essentials.
• Poverty affects human social behavior, principles, religion, life perspective, child-rearing, and thinking patterns. The Twelfth Congress of the World Psychiatric Association even asserts that poverty is the primary cause of mental illness!
• Psychological illnesses caused by the absence of life necessities include:

1. Feelings of inadequacy, leading to moral deviation, tendencies towards vice, humiliation, and potentially criminal behavior or drug addiction.
2. Frustration, resulting from significant obstacles to securing life necessities, leading to continuous discomfort, pessimism, and eventually despair.
3. Violence, stemming from economic disparities, can lead to negative, angry emotions, domestic violence, or participation in criminal activities.
4. General disorder, characterized by fear, anxiety, frequent panic attacks, and increased involuntary nervous system activity.
5. Schizophrenia, varying in severity based on physiological predisposition, leading to harmful behavioral disorders.
6. Depression, associated with guilt, anxiety, despair, self-flagellation, reduced ambition, decreased positive activity, and impaired social connections due to persistent feelings of inadequacy and disappointment.
7. Impact on children, with the American Psychological Association (APA) publishing a study by Rosario Ceballo on poverty’s impact on children’s brain development, particularly the cerebral cortex, affecting intelligence and success.
8. Impaired cognitive performance, including weakened decision-making abilities, with poverty acting as a mental burden comparable to losing 13 IQ points.

There is no doubt that the state of religiosity in our Syrian society, which provides a kind of satisfaction with and from God, may obscure many of the repercussions of poverty and the absence of aid to the poorest families. However, with increasing pressures, this state of religiosity and commitment may become ineffective in bringing about positive change! Not to mention the loss of all means and tools of psychological treatment in Syria (for all age groups).

Therefore, we in the Syrian Future Movement recommend a reassessment of the losses from stopping aid to Syrians affected by the war’s consequences. We believe there might be a hidden agenda to push Syrians towards further siege, forcing them to make negative choices that benefit countries and groups with local, regional, or international agendas, such as joining violent mercenary groups, extremist groups, or getting involved in drug and addiction militias (either in marketing or consumption).

We also recommend to our brothers in the Syrian Islamic Council and all other religious entities to increase the activity of moderate religion, considering its significant and influential role, especially given the deteriorating reality of Syrians. Religion in our society is one of the most effective available psychological treatments.

We in the Syrian Future Movement advise supporting psychological clinics inside Syria and attempting to activate their role through the activity of Syrian universities and their clinics (as a first step).

Finally, we call on the international community to increase its aid to our people inside Syria (not to stop it and restrict people), and to turn towards sustainable projects that eliminate unemployment and provide a stable income for individuals and citizens, such as:

1. Launching small or medium-sized investment projects.
2. Creating a comprehensive program to eliminate unemployment.
3. Providing materials for manufacturing basic necessities like bread for free or at a minimal cost.

Iman Al-Mohammad
Researcher in the Research and Studies Department
Scientific Office
Syrian Future Movement.