I have no concrete evidence of what I claim; only the anecdotes of friends and associates. Given that aid organizations and academics have yet to fully chronical the effects of the 2006 war, I think anecdotal evidence will have to do for now.
Clenched Jaws and Chipped Teeth
I have heard many occurences of jaw problems. Some residents of Beirut are clenching their teeth to the degree that it hurts to chew. I have heard many reports of jaw aches. A couple I know say each separately wake up at night because their spouse is grinding his/her teeth so loudly.
A dentist told me that he is making many nightguards and repairing chipped teeth. He claims that Lebanese are giving themselves long-term tooth and jaw damage from stress. A friend started wearing a mouthguard when he runs because he can't stop clenching his jaw. He already chipped away half a tooth.
Pills
A friend of mine in Hamra can't sleep. His mother and sister can't sleep, either. Abed is a leftist, environmentalist, and skeptic, so he refuses to medicate. The rest of his family take pills. They can't sleep without them.
Muhammad tells me that his aunt started taking pills on the first Thursday of the conflict. She began to take more as the gun battles got louder. Now, he claims, she is addicted.
An American professor at the American University of Beirut realized that she could not cope with the situation. She couldn't escape, and the worries and pressure from her family in the US was too much to bear on top of the horrible situation she was living in. She went to the pharmacy the first day it was open and bought a batch of what she claims is valium, although that is not what the bottle states. In Lebanon, one does not need a prescription to buy extremely powerful, mind altering drugs. She is now accustomed to taking them. She offers them to her friends. Some of them take the drugs without ever having consulted a doctor or pharmacist about the actual effects and side-effects of what they are throwing down their throats.
Nightmares
It is not even worth cataloguing the number of nightmares I've heard from others. Almost everyone I know tells me about a dream they've had recently. I've had many awkward and disturbing dreams, as well. I tend to have political dreams. Throughout the 2006 war, I often dreamt of myself as a member of the Lebanese cabinet trying to resolve the conflict. This time, I dream about being in a vibrant city, but there being a massive conflict (often involving a gargantuan flood of water) occuring in the distance.
Some of the dreams of my friends are too disturbing to recount. Many of them involve lots of blood, dead bodies, and death. A Dutch woman tells me that she has dreams about saving her young daughter from dark, shadowy, faceless enemies. Another man dreams that he is a member of a South African private security corporation of ninjas that descends on Beirut and secretly and quietly kills all armed factions and corrupt politicians.
Drugs and Alcohol
The consumption of alcohol has gone up steeply. Many of my friends are no longer having one or two drinks at pubs. They are going to the liquor store and buying entire cases of beer, or bottles of spirits. Often, the entire quantity is gone by the end of the night. Many people report to have had constant hangovers for the last two weeks. They arrive at work late, and feel horrible for half of the next day. Many say that it now takes quite a bit more alcohol to achieve the same effect.
Many normally staid and professional people are now talking openly about using cocaine, hashish, and ecstasy. These substances are illegal in Lebanon, but are quite easy to acquire. When I asked an acquaintance of an acquaintance if he was worried if he would get caught smoking hashish openly in the streets (he claimed to have smoked it while walking down the Corniche al Mazraa boulevard), he said, "If they try and arrest me for smoking a joint, I'll scream at them and say, 'Why the f*** didn't you arrest the people firing RPGs last week?'"
Those using cocaine, unsurprisingly, note a difficulty sleeping. Those using the other substances say they are trying to mentally escape.
As for me, my consumption of araq (aniseed flavored liquor similar to raki, ouzo, sambucca, and pastis) has increased slightly. I don't know if this is a result of the conflict or because a friend's father gave me a gallon jug of the substance. However, I've been self-moderating. :)
I normally deal with stress by working more. This probably isn't healthy in the long run, but I'll solve that problem when I take a vacation...if I take a vacation. No, I'm not married....
Weight Gains/Loss
Friends have visibly changed. Some people have gained significant amounts of weight. Others stopped eating, and look sickly thin and exhausted.
Conclusion
Many Lebanese, myself included, argue that this technically short conflict did far more psychological damage than the 34 day 2006 war. Civil wars are much harder psychologically than wars with "the other."
One comedian performing the other night argued, "How is that the country that produces the best quality hashish in the world decides it needs to fight all the time? Isn't hash supposed to chill you out? People from all over the world travel to Amsterdam to smoke Lebanese blonde and red. People travel to Beirut to fight. Shouldn't they travel here to smoke up and feel "ja love"? The Israelis love Lebanese hash. Come on, guys, we can beat the Israelis at this... Why do we have to fight all the time? Have you ever seen someone high on hash fight?"
Life is returning to normal, but the scars are still visible.
Update: For a stunning distraction from Lebanon, check out this link a friend sent me.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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There was a short video going around last week with a woman, a small boy, and an old man taking cover by a stone wall during shooting. The little boy seems oblivious. The old man is calm, and tries to get the boy to come over to him to hide.
What is telling is the woman (the boy's mother?). She looks about 40ish, and she appears to be having a nervous breakdown. Every time some idiot starts firing a machine gun, she starts cowering, crying, and beating herself.
You can tell that this fight has brought back some bad, bad memories for her. Memories of an experience that she hoped that she would never have to deal with again. It is tragic to watch her anger and frustration that after all the years of fighting, too many people still want to kill a whole bunch more.
Perhaps someone can link to the video. It was on a lot of sites.
Throughout the 2006 war, I often dreamt of myself as a member of the Lebanese cabinet trying to resolve the conflict. This time, I dream about being in a vibrant city, but there being a massive conflict (often involving a gargantuan flood of water) occuring in the distance.
I suppose that means that in 2006 you thought you could do something to affect a deadly fate, but today you see no hope of this. Are you still dreaming the 2006 dream? Is it any different today than before?
Another man dreams that he is a member of a South African private security corporation of ninjas that descends on Beirut and secretly and quietly kills all armed factions and corrupt politicians.
Does assassination sound more attractive and productive than civil war?
Civil wars are much harder psychologically than wars with "the other."
For Israelis, of course, it is the other way 'round: no matter how bitter their conflicts with each other, the basic matter is that their enemies don't seek to rule them, but to wipe them out entirely, and threaten to do so every day over the TV and radio and only a little less often by armed attack. For Lebanese making "the other" into the enemy is a useful unifying set of mind. Doubtless the argument Hezbollah is trying to whip up in Doha, I suppose.
A Dutch woman tells me that she has dreams about saving her young daughter from dark, shadowy, faceless enemies.
In most civil wars the perpetrators don't wear masks, but in Lebanon they do. So "the enemy" could be just about anyone - unless you have a magic touchstone, or a communications system of your own so you can tell friend from foe.
This nightmare is eerily similar to those of Jewish settlers in Palestine before independence: from roughly 1921-1949, they never knew for sure when they went to bed whether the guard (usually an Arab) would defend them successfully or be killed by or secretly in league with bandits who tried to invade the settlement and steal everything or slay everyone they could.
As long as the faceless (or masked) bandits are out there Lebanese will always be in dread, yet if Lebanon can take its fate in its own hands to defend itself and fight back, the joy at the lifting of The Shadow will be almost indescribable. Perhaps some of Jumblatt's men can describe it? Save for them, what you experienced in the past fortnight wasn't civil war, but being over-run by a criminal gang, urban Cossacks supported by a distant state for its own ends.
Civil war - combat - would be an improvement, yes? Is Suleiman making the right decision by keeping the Lebanese Army neutral any longer? If things go badly in Doha and Suleiman balks, why shouldn't what remains of the Cabinet exercise its powers to order him replaced with someone else? And if the Cabinet refuses, do they really have the right to keep their own pride and position by leading all Lebanon down the path of its destruction, without offering a constructive alternative?
Ron,
I haven't seen the video you mention, but it sounds familiar. I've seen many such incidents.
Often during conflict situations, I look calm, composed, and stable. Many of my friends who lived through the entirety of the Lebanese civil war in some of the worst affected areas say the best way to survive is to remain calm and make good decisions. Run when you need to run. Walk like an unconcerned civilian when going by armed militiamen. Stick to the walls when going down a street reknowned for snipers.
Unfortunately, most Lebanese live from crisis to crisis. There is little time to assess the mental damage that happened before another conflict happens. Old, bad behaviors return. The wounds re-open.
mberenis and kodder,
Thanks.
Solomon2,
Insightful comments.
You're right about the difference between the Lebanese and Israeli situations. I think most countries respond to foreign threats better than to civil war. A foreign threat strengthens the community.
The Jewish case is a unique one. I can think of no other people with the same kind of existential threat against them. Perhaps the Kurds, but they fought a nasty civil war in the 90s after the genocide.
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