Mental Health in Lebanon: Increase in Number of Calls for Support During 2019 and 2021
According to the Embrace Lifeline Report there is a drastic increase in the number of calls received on their national helpline in Lebanon for emotional support and suicide prevention between 2019 and 2021.
Embrace is a non-profit organization (NGO) that works on mental health awareness in Lebanon. Embrace lifeline is Lebanon’s national emotional support and suicide prevention helpline. This initiative is in collaboration with the National Mental health program at the ministry of public health (MOPH).
The number of calls to the Embrace helpline is drastically increasing every month since the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic. The chart above (Figure 1) shows increase from 147 in February 2019 to 479 in February 2020 to reach 602 calls in February 2021.
As part of Embrace’s mission, and in collaboration with MOPH, Embrace Lifeline keeps track of the numbers of calls being done and produces monthly reports that give a snapshot of the population that the Embrace Lifeline serves.
During Covid online content on mental health quadrupled everywhere all around the world, and in Lebanon as well, so, this would definitely reflect on Calls, especially with people being at home most of the time and due to interruption in mental health service such as hospitals being closed and mental health professionals also not seeing in the same frequency and not seeing patients face to face,” Mia Atweh, co-founder of Embrace.
The constant lockdown in Lebanon due to the massive increase in the number of Covid19 cases, the Beirut blast and the economical crisis have caused frustration, tiredness and hopelessness for the Lebanese people. The number of citizens seeking mental health support has drastically increased, however, according to Warde Bou Daher, a psychologist, this is not only due to the above circumstances but also because of the huge awareness campaigns done by Embrace.
“I believe the huge impact of the number is also, because of the awareness campaign by Embrace to announce this free mental health support helpline,” said Bou Daher, “People always tried to seek support however, it was never for free, now Embrace provides this free helpline and therefore the number is increasing very fast.”
The chart below (Figure 2), shows that the age range of the people calling for support has changed from mid 20s to early 30s from the beginning of the Covid19 until today.
A notable increase in the number of males who have called the helpline for mental health support has been recorded within the Embrace lifeline report. Throughout 2019, the number of females contacting the helpline for support is higher than that of males, up until 2020, the number of males calling for mental health support has been higher. The chart below (Figure 3) shows how since the Covid19 pandemic the number of males calling has been more than that of women.
“Embrace’s campaign helped break the taboo of seeking mental health support, which encouraged more people from different generations and different genders to seek support,” said Bou Daher.
“This report by Embrace should be an alarm for the government, to show that when a free support is provided for the citizens they will immediately seek help, so there should be more programs by the governments to support mental health,” said Bou Daher.
