Save the Children says Syrian kids could be suffering from 'toxic stress'

International aid group Save the Children says Syrian children could be suffering from "toxic stress" and trauma as a result of nearly six years of conflict.

A research by the group conducted with 450 Syrian children in seven of Syria's 14 governorates said millions of Syrian children are living in a state of "toxic stress" and suffer staggering levels of trauma due to prolonged exposure to the horrors of war.

The report, titled "Invisible Wounds," reveals a mental health crisis among children trapped in areas held by Daesh and other Takfiri terrorist groups across Syria.

The report said many Syrian children were "living in an almost constant state of fear" even after escaping from the front lines of the conflict.

The study, based on hundreds of interviews conducted with the children's parents, also found that children were showing more aggressive behavior, suffering from bedwetting, speech impediments, and chest pains, and in some cases attempting suicide.

Zainab, 11, who lives in Syria's al-Hol refugee camp with her mother and two siblings after fleeing the Daesh-held city of Dayr al-Zawr, said Daesh "takes children and teaches them about weapons and punishments."

Nine-year-old Ahmed, whose siblings found themselves trapped in the Daesh-held Syrian city of Raqqah, where he saw beheadings, said, "I am afraid of blood, and I am afraid to see a dead body and someone with his head chopped off."

Marcia Brophy, Save the Children's senior mental health advisor for the Middle East, said toxic stress can disrupt the development of the brain and other organs and increase the risk of addiction and mental health disorders in adulthood.

"We risk condemning a generation of children to a lifetime of mental and physical health problems," Brophy said, adding, "We need to ensure that children who have already lost six years of their lives to war don’t have to lose their whole future as well."

"After six years of war, we are at a tipping point, after which the impact on children's formative years and childhood development may be so great that the damage could be permanent and irreversible," the psychosocial adviser said.

"The risk of a broken generation, lost to trauma and extreme stress, has never been greater."

For nearly six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August last year that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then. The world body stopped its official casualty count in the war-torn country, citing its inability to verify the figures it received from various sources.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk