This weekend, 50 women and children held hostage by Hamas were released. 150 women and teenagers held captive in Israel were also released. Meanwhile, over 5,000 children have died in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
In the war, children have lived in circumstances no child should have to endure. But according to Sofia Bidö, psychologist and manager at the Rädda Barnens center for support and treatment, there is hope. In any case, given the right conditions.
– Children have a fantastic ability to recover, she says in SVT Morgonstudion.
Children need to play
It is difficult to meet the basic needs of children in Gaza. But in addition to warmth, gruel and rest, Sofia Bidö believes that access to school and play is absolutely crucial.
– The game is very important, both for recovery and for processing what they have been through.
Risk and protective factors
Some of the risk factors for being traumatized are that you already lived in vulnerability before the incident, or that you had difficulties with impulse control and emotion regulation.
But there are also protective factors, such as having access to a large social network.
– Unfortunately, that’s the way it is, that you have slightly different conditions, says Sofia Bidö.
“An overdose” of security
Sofia Bidö has worked with children who come from war-torn areas. She says that the first thing she does, regardless of the child’s situation, is to work on external stability.
– The children must have the experience that they are really protected and safe. You only get that when you live in completely different circumstances, she says.
– You need to be completely protected from what has been traumatizing, and you need to get an overdose of safe, calm adults.
It is also important that the child gets back to his routine, with schooling, meaningful free time and peers. But often more targeted efforts are also needed, such as psychosocial support and psychological treatment.
– But then there is hope, says Sofia Bidö.
In the clip, Sofia Bidö talks about how trauma can manifest itself in a child.