| Though relatively short and certainly successful, the Egyptian Revolution has had psychological repercussions for many. Acknowledging it is a way to recovery.By Randa El Tahawy |
| It’s been more than 100 days since the revolution that toppled the Mubarak government, and Egyptians are still reeling from the events that unfolded during the 18-day revolution, which at times saw intensely violent confrontations between authorities and protesters. And even though the revolution was a success, many have discovered that the violence and stress are having a serious emotional and psychological impact.It seems like every individual has a story to tell — some faced death, others saw loved ones die, while others still have been greatly affected by the violence that followed the end of the revolution. While every individual deals with this emotional impact in their own way, experts say there is little doubt that people will continue to deal with these traumatic events for some time. “I have been dealing with a lot of patients who are dealing with post-revolutionary stress,” says Anne Justus, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor at the American University in Cairo. She notes that even if a person watched the event on TV, there is always a chance he or she could be traumatized or experience psychological repercussions. Justus says that she sees a lot of patients who are still very politically involved and need to talk and share their stress just to keep going. “[M]ost of my patients are still very involved politically. They are still going to demonstrations,” she explains. “So they still have a very high level of fear of being arrested. We talk a lot about those fears, and how they could deal with it.” Psychologist and neuroscientist Dalia Danish explains that there are three criteria that classify an event as traumatic for an individual. The first is the person’s proximity to the event. “Of course, most of us live in Cairo and were very close to the event [the revolution],” she says. “A lot of people heard shooting every day.” The second criterion for defining a traumatic event is assessing how severe it is. Severe events usually involve violence, shootings, wars or life-threatening disasters, Danish says. The final determinant of how traumatic an event is to an individual depends on whether or not there is a social network of support to help people process these violent events and put them in context. This social support network usually consists of family, friends and even the media, though in terms of the revolution, Danish believes the media has not been helpful. “Obviously that is non-existent because if you look at the media, they are scaring everyone and are heating up the issue instead of calming people down.” Danish says one of the most important factors affecting nearly everyone right now is uncertainty — they are living in an uncertain future that requires them to make important political decisions such as in the previous referendum on constitutional amendments or the upcoming parliamentary elections. “Not only can’t you predict [the outcome], you’re close to the events. The events are severe, but you also need to make decisions that will put your country in a different position,” she says. “Are we going to be […] an Islamic state or a secular state? Everyone is confused. And these are rational decisions that we have to make.” Feeling Insecure Any sense of security was shattered during the first few days of the revolution. On the night of January 28, the police withdrew from the country, leaving the streets unprotected while allegedly opening prison doors to allow some of the country’s most dangerous criminals to escape. Gunshots rang out through almost every neighborhood of every city in the country. In some areas, looting and burning of shops became an almost daily occurrence. “When the police withdrew and the thugs were roaming [the streets] of Egypt, we were all at least in a war-like situation and your life was totally jeopardized,” says Danish. “People were defenseless, and it was bound to affect everyone.” With rumors of murders and thefts spreading throughout the country, many people were paralyzed with fear. Justus explains that the very fact that no one was actually sure of what was true and what was a lie was even more frightening. “It’s very stressful when things are not transparent, when you have difficulty finding out if things are true or not,” Justus says. “Fear gives more strength to the rumor.” Coping With Loss What were rumors for most people were cold hard facts for some. Fatenn Mostafa, an art collector with private clients, knows firsthand the toll the revolution and chaos took on the country — and her family. Mostafa’s world changed on February 1, the day of ousted President Mubarak’s second address to the nation. Her 71-year-old father, an Egyptian diplomat, was patrolling the streets with his neighborhood watch when he was hit by a stolen car with four passengers. Witnesses told her that the car was speeding so fast that her father “flew about three meters high” and landed headfirst on the car, then collapsed on the pavement. That same night, one of their neighbors was shot in the leg while on neighborhood watch duty. The passengers in the car were eventually arrested; Mostafa later found out the car was stolen and the passengers, including three escaped convicts and a women, were all armed. Mostafa’s father survived the collision and was taken to Masr El Dawly Hospital, where he was treated and released. But a couple of days later, his health took a turn for the worse and his family took him to Dar El Fouad Hospital. “Going from bad to worse, to slightly better to bad to worse,” she recalls. “He succumbed [died] on April 25 at 9pm. I was there by his side,” she says. According to Mostafa, he didn’t die from the injury but from a blood infection that he allegedly contracted after they took him to the hospital. “My father’s story provides a different angle from the atrocious measures taken by the former government to remain in power,” Mostafa says. “One of the means [taken by the government] was to [release] prisoners to spread fear. More than 20,000 prisoners escaped; three of them killed my dad. Who let those prisoners out?” Mostafa initially didn’t talk about her father’s death. However, after former Minister of Interior Habib El Adly was sentenced to 12 years in jail on corruption charges, she began to tell the story of her father’s death on the social networking site Twitter. El Adly is also charged with killing protesters and is awaiting trial. News of El Adly’s conviction gave Mostafa a sense of relief. So she sent a letter to her father and shared it with the rest of the world via Twitter. “I told him, I am sure he knows, he [El Adly] will be in jail for 12 years and he will never see his son again,” she says as she cries inconsolably. “I am very cruel in that part, and I hope that kills him.” Now Mostafa is focusing on investigating her father’s murder. She wants to know more about the people who directly killed him and how they were released from prison. She says that army officials told her that the people in the car were arrested, but she’s still awaiting confirmation of the information. “That is my only hope and my only focus,” she says. “I want to know, and I will only be relieved when I [do].” Although Mostafa is not sure why she was compelled to share her story in such a public way, she says that she wanted her father to be more than just a name. Telling his story to others makes him more real. “I want everybody to know he is brave. I want everybody to know that it’s unfair what is happening. Maybe that’s why I want to talk because I can’t get justice from anyone,” she says. “My father died as a martyr, I am sure of that, protecting his home, supporting the youth of the revolution. He died as a man of principles. But unfortunately, the principles have not so far paid him his due tribute. Only if Habib El Adly [gets] the death penalty [then] he will be avenged.” According to Justus, Mostafa’s anger and willingness to share the event is a very natural form of grieving. She explains that people who lost loved ones in the revolution will be less willing to trust the authorities since they blame the government for killing their loved ones as opposed to protecting them, which is what the government is supposed to do. “When people are grieving [the loss of] someone, there are stages that they go through. One of the stages is anger, one is denial and then one is sadness,” explains Justus.” So it makes sense that she [Mostafa] would feel angry.” The psychologist adds that Mostafa sharing her story is a way for her to raise awareness and make sense of what happened. “When it is something that is unpredictable [like a car accident], we feel a lack of control,” says Justus. “For some people, one way of regaining a sense of control or purpose is to speak out about certain issues, so it doesn’t feel like such a big loss.” Escaping death The official fact-finding mission investigating the death toll of Egypt’s revolution announced that at least 846 were killed and 6,467 injured. But Ahmed Hassan, a 29- year-old assistant manager in an advertising company, says that based on his experience in Tahrir Square, the numbers are much higher. Hassan went to protest on January 28, the Friday of Anger, after hearing the crowds of people on the street demanding justice. Though he had no specific political interests, he decided to go out and join the movement. He was shot twice that day in two separate incidents and was badly injured by the second bullet. The first time was on the 15th of May Bridge leading to Maspero, which protesters were trying to use as an alternate route to Tahrir Square since Qasr El-Nil Bridge was blocked by the authorities. Hassan was shot in the back while trying to escape the suffocating tear gas tossed into the crowd by police. Unwilling to give in, he continued marching with the crowds despite his injury. He was shot a second time later that night, this time under his eye, when a car with men claiming to be from the army tried to break the barricades set up by the protesters. Hassan says that the car turned out to be the presidential guards’ car. “In less than 30 minutes, shotguns were everywhere and it was live ammunition. They were shooting [us] in the face, not [at] the ground,” he says angrily. “There were so many people who lost an eye, and [others] who died. I am sure that the numbers […] are much higher than what they said. People next to me were all covered in blood.” Despite the chaos and violence around him, Hassan recalls that at the moments of confrontation, he did not feel afraid. “I never felt this before,” he says. “You don’t feel the fear. You continue when you see people around you dying; you just want to continue and take revenge.” While doctors were not able to remove the bullets from Hassan’s body, Hassan did not lose his eye. The doctors told him his case wasn’t severe. “I still think about it until now,” Hassan says. “I keep remembering that I was going to lose my eye and that I could have died, but I am not sad. After all of this, I don’t regret it at all.” Justus says that people’s individual personalities and predispositions make a big difference in how they respond to traumatic events. “Every human has a different level of resiliency. The more resiliency you have, the less likely you are to be negatively impacted by this,” she says. She adds that a sense of detachment from the events can be a self-defense mechanism that stops the person from feeling fear or sadness during or after the event. For some people, getting injured might affect them in a different manner. “There is also another phenomenon that if everyone around you gets shot, it becomes more normal,” Justus continues. “If [Hassan] knows a lot of people who were shot, it is ok that he feels it is normal.” Coping with violence Sondos Shabayek’s experiences took her to the other end of the emotional spectrum. The young activist was also surrounded by a great deal of violence during the protests of the revolution. For her, January 26 was the most violent day, as the police were very aggressive because of the smaller number of people on the streets. “I remember we were on Ramses Street and the police attacked us,” she says. “I fell on the ground and they stepped on me. I went back to the office, my clothes were all ripped, and I had bruises and was bleeding.” “I broke down seven hours later, when I had a chance to sit down,” she adds. “I was overwhelmed. I don’t know why I was crying. I had a friend who got arrested so I might have been crying for that. But I [really] don’t know why I was crying. [Maybe] I felt sorry for myself from what happened to me. All I was doing was just going out and expressing my opinion.” Shabayek saw a lot of people injured and bleeding around her and says that she was shocked at first but eventually got used to it. After being constantly involved and camped out in Tahrir during the 18 days of the revolution, she fell into a depression after Mubarak stepped down. “I still think I am emotional about it. Whenever I remember anything, I cry again,” Shabayek adds. “Everything you can imagine I feel, with anxiety thoughts, I take it to the extreme.” Shabayek knows that the experience changed her life, and she never hesitates to talk about it. The founder of the Bussy Project, in which local women perform monologues about women’s issues, Shabayek has now created a project called Tahrir Monologues, in which people share their experiences of the revolution. “It is a very personal tool. It is important to share the Tahrir days. For me, it is very therapeutic. I feel awakened after this experience [of Tahrir]. I feel I have more strength and more responsibility.” Lasting effects It is normal to experience stress, anxiety and other emotional reactions to the traumatic events of the revolution. According to specialists, being directly involved in the violence is a much more intense experience. Justus says that people who were in or close to Tahrir Square have significantly higher chances of developing full-fledged post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Danish explains that in simple terms, PTSD is characterized by recurring thoughts or flashbacks related to a traumatic event. Typically, people with PTSD have nightmares related to the events. Many experience terror attacks while others typically will try to avoid anything related to the event. Other symptoms include an increase of aggressive behavior; the person might also withdraw from daily life. “You are most likely to get post traumatic stress if your life is jeopardized, whether you participated in it [the event] or witnessed it, or heard about it, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be actually there,” Danish says. PTSD is a very specific disorder that can only be diagnosed by a psychologist or psychiatrist. If a person or his loved ones notice symptoms of post traumatic stress persisting for more than one month, they should consider seeking professional help. Both psychologists agree that the events of the revolution had a significant impact on people. The best solution for those suffering from trauma is for them to try to deal with it head on and to be aware that these events will have an impact on them for some time. “This is obviously a huge crisis,” says Justus, “and lots of people have psychological effects from it.” The impact of this trauma can be far reaching. Danish is concerned that beyond simply living in fear, many people are too caught up with what’s happening in the country that they are ignoring their mental health. “I feel most people are taking decisions based on fear rather than based on thought,” she says. “Obviously you cannot have political awareness or rebuild Egypt if [you are] mentally not capable of making rational decisions.” Given the violent and stressful events of the revolution and the ongoing uncertainty of the future, Danish feels that it is normal for people to experience mental health problems right now, noting, “I think psychological help is very important.” Both specialists advise people to be aware of the problems and acknowledge their fears in order to help themselves. In terms of coping with daily stress, they recommend practicing relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises. Other advice: “Don’t risk your life, make sure you are in secure places, try to think rationally,” Danish says. “If you set yourself goals for the day, you feel that you have some sense of control over your life. At that moment we don’t feel that.” |
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