Mental health consequences of home demolition policy towered Palestinians: Literature review

Abstract

Home demolition is considered a miserable and frequent reality of life for thousands of Palestinian people. Recently, in January 2020, at least 44 structures were demolished by Israeli forces, displacing at least 87 people. Studies have revealed high levels of stress was associated with losing a family home during home demolition, and the stress doesn’t only carry out immediate effects but also long-term mental consequences. This paper aims to provide an overview of the literature and established studies related to the mental health consequences of home demolitions in Palestine. Methods PubMed, Science Direct, Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar were used to search for materials for the critical analysis of empirical articles. The following aspects were taken into consideration: study type, sample, and key findings. Results In this review, nine studies related to mental health consequences of home demolition were found and considered in this paper. The results indicate depression, stress, anxiety, phobias and lack of hope in the future are mutual themes running throughout the lives of those Palestinian families who have actually experienced home demolition along with those who have experienced a constant threat of demolition to their homes. In addition, many of life stressors such as lack of educational opportunities, low incomes, and a tendency to live in poor housing conditions after and before demolition also play a role in developing serious mental disorders. Conclusion As primary prevention, the practice of home demolition in Palestine has to be ended. In addition to conduct a constant monitoring of the resulting displacement and the damage caused, and ensuring the necessary assistance in particular mental health and psychological support for victims of home demolitions.

Quality of life and mental health outcomes: the role of sociodemographic factors in the Palestinian context

“…Consistent with the first study hypothesis, quality of life showed to be negatively correlated with mental health outcomes (depression, stress, and anxiety) among Palestinian adults, which also supports prior researches findings 17 , 19 – 23 , 26 . The individualistic perspective could explain this negative correlation, in which quality of life is subjectively assessed regarding different domains such as social, physical, and emotional well-being 4 , 5 .…”

“…Moreover, in a study that examined psychiatric symptomatology characterized by general distress, depression, and anxiety associated with direct and indirect forms of violence exposure among Palestinian young adults, the findings revealed that women reported higher levels of global distress, depression, and anxiety than men 21 . In a literature review that examined the relationship between home demolition policy toward Palestinians and mental health consequences, the results showed that many life stressors such as lack of educational opportunities, low incomes, and a tendency to live in poor housing conditions after and before demolition also played a role in developing severe mental disorders such as depression, stress, and anxiety 23 . Our study drives its importance as it’s the first study which was designed to test the association between current study variables in the Palestinian context, which characterized by a high level of political conflict and mental distress.…”

“…Moving from the above-described background, our study sought to test the association between QoL and mental health outcomes, and the role of specific demographic variables (educational level, gender, region of residency, and age) in predicting mental health outcomes in terms of stress, anxiety and depression among Palestinians. Based on prior research 15 – 23 , study hypotheses were defined: First, QoL would be negatively associated with mental health outcomes operationalized by (depression, anxiety, and stress) among Palestinian adults (H1); Second, educational level, gender, region of residency, and age would predict mental health outcomes(depression, anxiety, and stress) among Palestinian adults (H2); Third, QoL and demographic variables (educational level, gender, region of residency, and age would predict together mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and stress) among Palestinian adults (H3).…”

The association between posttraumatic stress symptoms and suicidal ideations among Palestinians: The mediating role of spirituality, social support and mindfulness

“…Experiencing such challenging and hard life conditions were found to negatively affect the mental health of Palestinians, as they were found to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress due to the actions of the Israeli military occupation (Marie and SaadAdeen, 2021 ; Bdier et al, 2022 ). In addition, living under such constrictions were found to negatively affect the quality of life and well-being of Palestinians, as one-third reported low levels of well-being (Mataria et al, 2009 ; Harsha et al, 2016 ), which was found to correlate positively with feelings of hopelessness and depressive symptoms among Palestinians in the West Bank (Mahamid et al, 2022 ; Veronese et al, 2022 ).…”

Gender-Based Violence, Subjective Quality of Life, and Mental Health Outcomes Among Palestinian Women: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Agency

“…The Palestinian society is characterized by a long-standing history of colonial violence and military occupation since the establishment of the Israel Jewish state in 1948. Accordingly, amid abnormal sociopolitical conditions, political trauma, dispossession, expulsions, demolition, and expropriation of land and homes became an integral part of the Palestinian historical and social suffering (Abu-Lughod, 1971; Marie & Saad Adeen, 2021; Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 1999). The ongoing military occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) dramatically influenced Palestinian lives, including socioeconomic disruption, health and educational constraints, and gender gaps (Dana & Walker, 2015).…”