On 19 September, 2023 Azerbaijan launched an attack on various areas of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is a self-proclaimed republic, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, while traditionally home to ethnic Armenians. After a ceasefire agreement was reached 24 hours later, more than one hundred thousand people made their way to neighbouring Armenia through the Lachin corridor, which lies between the region and the border, and which had been closed for 10 months.
From Thursday 28 September, a team of psychologists from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) received patients at the registration centre in Goris and from 20 September to 10 October our mobile team of Psychologists and Psycho-educators kicked off the 1 month Rapid Initial Response for the mental health needs of the displaced population. From 16 October to date, our team has focused on two primordial regions (in terms of number of displaced population and the needs) - Kotayk and Ararat.
So far 789 people have received MSF assistance (545 in Masis and 244 In Tsaghkadzor); amongst them 524 were women and 48 children or teens.
Most people we helped presented depression related and anxiety-related symptoms due to past experiences and uncertainty for future. Many continuously experience grief and bereavement and feeling of disempowerment while is particularly difficult for families, children to face upcoming adaptation and integration challenges. Many of people we see had been displaced for 3 or 4 times during the past years. In many cases children are facing sleeping disorders and many mothers accumulated anxiety due to the pressure children experience.