By: Vickie J. Rubinson
A wave of drug addiction is overtaking the Gaza strip as Palestinians increasingly resort to anti-depressants to cope with years of blockade, entrapment and stress, at a rate that has medical experts worried.
As Gaza drifts in limbo with no clear political future, so do the 1.5 million residents, many of whom have come to rely on anti-depressants and painkillers smuggled through tunnels to escape the ongoing Israeli blockage, a soaring rate of unemployment at 40 percent and traumas of war.
Apart from the massive destruction, the Israeli offensive has led to more poverty, unemployment and overcrowding.
To relieve themselves of the continuous state of stress and anxiety Palestinian teens, adult men and women are taking pills to regain control of their lives.
"I have to take them otherwise I cannot funtion in the day," 36-year-old Sameh Alawy, a taxi driver told Al Aribiya.
"During the war I would take them constantly because dead bodies were everywhere to be seen. Now I still take them because they help calm me down," he explained.
Some supplies of drugs are smuggled into Gaza through Egypt through tunnels. The low price and availability without prescription make them very popular.
Other anti-anxiety medications and MAO inhibitors which are anti-depressants like Prozac are available without prescription and are equally popular.
A wave of drug addiction is overtaking the Gaza strip as Palestinians increasingly resort to anti-depressants to cope with years of blockade, entrapment and stress, at a rate that has medical experts worried.
As Gaza drifts in limbo with no clear political future, so do the 1.5 million residents, many of whom have come to rely on anti-depressants and painkillers smuggled through tunnels to escape the ongoing Israeli blockage, a soaring rate of unemployment at 40 percent and traumas of war.
Apart from the massive destruction, the Israeli offensive has led to more poverty, unemployment and overcrowding.
To relieve themselves of the continuous state of stress and anxiety Palestinian teens, adult men and women are taking pills to regain control of their lives.
"I have to take them otherwise I cannot funtion in the day," 36-year-old Sameh Alawy, a taxi driver told Al Aribiya.
"During the war I would take them constantly because dead bodies were everywhere to be seen. Now I still take them because they help calm me down," he explained.
Some supplies of drugs are smuggled into Gaza through Egypt through tunnels. The low price and availability without prescription make them very popular.
Other anti-anxiety medications and MAO inhibitors which are anti-depressants like Prozac are available without prescription and are equally popular.
No comments:
Post a Comment