As a survivor of the Beirut explosion, Dalal recalls the blast in her ruined home where she lives with her husband, near the port. Sitting in front of what was once a window, Dalal relives the moment of the explosion: “I was screaming. My husband’s nephew was trapped under a door. There’s no way I can get that scene out of my head!”
Over a month after the explosion, she still suffers from eating and sleeping disorders due to the terrible event. “Every time I’m about to eat, I remember all the people who lost their hands and legs […] How can I eat when so many others can’t even take a single bite?” Over the past three weeks, Dalal has not left her home and has refused to stay or sleep alone.
Dany, a psychologist with Médecins du Monde, visited Dalal and her husband in recent weeks to offer psychotherapy and Mental health and psychosocial support – MHPSS sessions. Following these sessions and with her husband’s support, Dalal recently managed, for the first time since the explosion, to go out and even stay home alone. “I even went to the port, where the destruction was total. I stood there and observed the scene,” she says.
She adds: “At first, I was afraid to express my fear until Dany explained that it’s completely normal to express what I feel […] he told me it’s normal to be afraid after the explosion. They gave me strength! I felt like someone was helping me.”
*Names have been changed to protect confidentiality
About Médecins du Monde’s response following the Beirut explosion:
In response to the Beirut explosion, Médecins du Monde has been carrying out interventions (home consultations and follow-ups, awareness sessions, Psychological First Aid sessions, and integrated mental health services in partnership with the AMEL mobile clinic) in Karantina, one of the areas hardest hit by the explosion, since August 7. Additionally, a team of mental health specialists provided remote interventions through the helpline and awareness sessions at the Community Mental Health Center of Rafik Hariri University Hospital.