Invisible Wounds: The Impact of Six Years of War on the Mental Health of Syria’s Children

Studies into the mental health of Syrian refugee children have shown staggering levels of trauma and distress. However, much less is known about the impact on children still inside the country, one in four of whom is now at risk of developing mental health disorders. To begin to further understand and address this urgent problem, Save the Children and partner organisations managed to speak with more than 450 children and adults inside seven of Syria’s 14 governorates about how the conflict has affected children’s daily lives, their main causes of stress and fear, who they turn to for help, and how they cope with constant war – a waking nightmare that seems to them as though it may never end.

This research – the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind undertaken inside Syria into children’s mental health and wellbeing during the war2 – revealed heartbreaking accounts of children terri ed by the shelling and airstrikes, anxious about the future, and distraught at not being able to go to school. With a critical shortage of mental health and psychosocial support in Syria, and with parents and caregivers themselves struggling to cope, the majority of children we spoke with show signs of severe emotional distress.

The prolonged exposure to war, stress and uncertainty, means that many children are in a state of ‘toxic stress’. This is having immediate and hugely detrimental effects on children, including increases in bedwetting, self-harm, suicide attempts and aggressive or withdrawn behaviour. If left untreated, the long-term consequences are likely to be even greater, affecting children’s mental and physical health for the rest of their lives. This will have a devastating impact on Syria’s future unless action is taken now. After six years of war we are at a tipping point, after which the impact on children’s formative years and childhood development may be so great that the damage could be permanent and irreversible. The risk of a broken generation, lost to trauma and extreme stress, has never been greater.