The silent epidemic; the toll of mental health in occupied Palestine

Background: There is an elevated prevalence of depression and PTSD reported in resi-dents of Occupied Palestine compared to their neighboring country of Israel. Objective: To determine the causes of increased prevalence of PTSD and depression compared to their Is-raeli counterparts, Palestinians would inform local and global mental health programs of the severity, allowing for better treatment opportunities. Method: Thirty-two original studies pub-lished between 1974 and 2020 were reviewed using a combination of PubMed, Google Scholar, and independent textbooks to search for materials and analyze statistics and infor-mation. The inclusion criteria included cross-searching the topics' Palestine, PTSD, Depres-sion, Israel, and Jordan' and using this technique resulted in 120 articles. The following as-pects were considered: study type, sample, article title, and key findings, limiting the literature review to 32 articles. Results: Palestinians are much more likely to suffer from PTSD and depression than the global average and their neighboring countries. The global prevalence of depression and PTSD are 5% and 3.6%, respectively. The prevalence of severe PTSD in chil-dren living in the Gaza Strip is 32.7%. Furthermore, depression in Palestine is among the highest rates in the world, affecting 40% of Palestinians.