Media Pictures of Gaza and Traumatized Victims of War
Reading the interesting post Forever at War: Veterans’ Everyday Battles with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder at neuroanthropology reminds me to post about Gaza’s dead bodies’ pictures in media as they are spreading over the internet now and via youtube and some local T.V Channels or satellite channels around the globe. My worry here is that what if a child saw these pictures or even an adult and went or goes through a Post Stress Traumatic Disorder. To parents, make sure to keep your children away from these pictures and keep an eye on them also if an adult experience any certain negative feeling which you can not detach yourself from, do not hesitate to consult a therapist. Also check this link ,which the post in neuroanthropology referred to, for further details about PTSD…
In addition, if you found any T.V Channels is posting such pictures, or clips without putting a warning message before it, and if it does not give you at least few minutes to switch the channel or prepare yourself emotionally prior to watching them, or does not give you enough time to ask your children to leave the room or take them away, please try to contact them and ask them to post a warning message few minutes before broadcasting these images or clips.
It would be a vital thing to look at the victims of war on Gaza and check how they are experiencing PTSD. As far as I learnt and worked on the PTSD topic especially after people witnessing crisis, the best thing to reduce its effect is to let the victims talk with a therapist or specialist as soon as the event, which causes it, is experienced.
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; according to the post Mind-Body skills reduce PTSD in war-traumatized children,
… demonstrates that [Center for Mind-Body Medicine] CMBM’s mind-body techniques, including biofeedback, meditation, guided imagery and self-expression (in words, drawings, and movement) produce lasting changes in levels of stress, flashbacks, nightmares and symptoms of withdrawal and numbing in adolescents living in a region of conflict.
Please keep us updated if you found anyone is working on the PTSD topic related to the current war on Gaza and the war’s victims, in particular Gaza’s children…
Sara Anthro Blog 
Dear Sara,
A google search led me to stumble upon your blog, which mentions the Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s (CMBM’s) work in Gaza. Thanks for raising awareness about mental health in Gaza!! We appreciate it, and I wanted to make sure you had the latest info on our work.
A quick update: CMBM has just completed (as of Wednesday, March 10, 2009) the training of 140+ more health and mental health clinicians, school psychologists, and counselors–and admittance was designed to provide help to as many professionals as possible who work directly with children. There were over 500 applications for 150 spots at this training–we plan to do at least two more trainings in an ongoing support .
Thanks again for posting on this topic; check out our website and our director’s blog, also, You can read more about the recent training in an article by AP printed by the Washington Post, titled “Stressed Gazans turn to meditation after war.” Feel free to email me with questions/comments.
Cheers,
Erin
drgordonea2@cmbm.org