NEWS Threat of war turns Lebanese to tranquilizers (Feature)

By Weedah Hamzah Jan 23, 2011, 2:06 GMT

Beirut - 'I am very depressed,' says 22-year-old Sasha Badran, a student at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut.

'I think I have what is called 'War Blues.''

Many ordinary Lebanese can sympthasize - like Sasha, they are suffering from anxiety, stress and nervous disorders due to the

political turmoil sweeping the country, which many fear may turn into a new and violent civil strife.

Since the political crisis erupted many doctors have been talking about the spread of a new kind of depression which they dubbed as 'War Blues.'

Dr Antoinette Khoury, a psychologist, noted that the current depression and fear among the Lebanese does not stem only from the present political situation.

'I think that what the Lebanese are witnessing right now is related to what they went through in the 1975-1990 civil war,' Khoury said.

'The unrest and violence that has engulfed Lebanon throughout the years is still affecting the Lebanese ... such things tend to have a huge psychological implication on future generations as well,' she said.

Sasha says she takes a tranquilizer to sleep at night and not to think about what might happen the next day.

'It is as if, it was written for us as Lebanese to never be happy, live in stability or enjoy our wonderful country,' Leila Khalaf, a Lebanese housewife and mother of three children, agrees.

The collapse of the government on January 12 after Hezbollah and their allies withdrew from the national unity coalition, and the deepened rift among the rival parties have driven the Lebanese to live in uncertainty and fear.

Many Lebanese have also been stock piling food, water and even medicine supplies in anticipation of a deterioration in security.

A Lebanese pharmacist in Beirut - who requested anonymity - confirmed that the sales of tranquilizers and sleeping pills has increased this month.

'People come to us and say we cannot sleep at night,' he said.

Many pharmacies illegally provide their customers with prescription-only drugs, despite legislation issued by the Ministry of Health (MOH) which criminalizes the practice.

According to pharmacists, Lebanon's second biggest medical import is medicine for the treatment of anxiety and nervous disorders, such as tranquilizers and anti-depressants.

According to Lebanese law, tranquilizers and sedatives such as Lexotanil require a prescription, while anti-depressants such as Prozac and Zoloft do not.

'It's unsettling for people not to know what the very near future holds for them,' Khoury said.

'Living through trauma after trauma, the Lebanese perhaps have every right to have one of the highest rates of depressions in the world,' she added.

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