Mariam* is a refugee from Afghanistan seeking care for the psychological wounds of living as an asylum seeker in Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. One year ago, Moria camp was destroyed by a devastating string of fires. Mariam, her husband, and their two-year-old daughter were stranded with no safe place to stay. After sleeping on the streets for 10 days, they relocated to Kara Tepe camp, originally an “overflow” camp that now hosts 3,500 people, where living conditions are woefully inadequate.
When Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams arrived in Kara Tepe camp, they were confronted by a mental health crisis. People were scarred by the asylum process, fearful of deportation, and experiencing severe distress from unsafe living conditions. In response, MSF teams offered mental health care to children and adults in our clinic in Mytilene—the capital of Lesbos—and continue to provide these services today.
Many patients, including children, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder because of their experiences on Lesbos. Mariam’s daughter is just one of the children in our care:
This Sunday, October 10, is World Mental Health Day. Psychological and physical wellbeing go hand-in-hand. So Friend, we want to raise awareness: Mental health care is health care. And at MSF, we believe access to mental health care is a basic human right. Read more about the mental health services our staff provides around the world >>
Our patients seek help for many reasons, whether they’ve been trapped by violent conflict, or experienced profound loss or the trauma of sexual violence. We may treat their physical ailments, but for patients like Mariam’s daughter, the psychological wounds of trauma can require ongoing attention.
MSF has been providing mental health care for more than 20 years. As people around the world face compounding crises, MSF teams are committed to ensuring COVID-19 does not disrupt vital health services, including mental health and psychosocial support.
We sincerely hope you and your loved ones are taking gentle care of one another and yourselves.
This email was sent from the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care.
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![“My wish is to get better psychologically and live like a normal person. . . . I wish, like all people do, [for] a good life without stress and to have a house for my daughter to play in.”](https://image.e.doctorswithoutborders.org/lib/fe37157075640779761c75/m/2/6b88b61e-92e3-4c4e-a504-9a2a74095831.jpg)
![“My little girl tends to [show] aggressive behaviors because of what she has witnessed here. She doesn’t like to play with friends, to laugh, to speak, or to play with dolls. All there is in her mind is the violence she has witnessed here: the fights in the camp, the time that we had to run away, the fires, the teargas.”](https://image.e.doctorswithoutborders.org/lib/fe37157075640779761c75/m/2/cb6e50b3-f4a9-4568-a6fc-92f64a3346e9.jpg)
