New word coined to describe stress disorder

Ever wondered how you would react if a doctor tells you that a standard set to define the magnitude of a medical condition could be insufficient to describe your health condition? What may sound like a scary thought, is a reality for Syrian children, who are living in the face of one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent times.

Dr M.K. Hamza, a neuropsychologist at the Syrian-American Medical Society (SAMS), feels that it is insufficient to say that the oft-orphaned survivors of the five-year Syrian civil war are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. According to doctors treating them, these children have experienced far worse physical and emotional trauma than what can even be comprehended by medical practitioners treating them. Many of the children have lost their parents, siblings, other family members or friends to the war. Some of them witnessed painful deaths of their loved ones. Severely traumatised and scared, most of them end up in refugee camps to recover, but without enough food, medical attention or education. Those who end up elsewhere, struggle through crushing poverty and face exploitation in many ways. Doctors feel that PTSD is not enough to describe their mental state, deeply impacted by the horrors of war and pain of loss.

“Human devastation syndrome” is the word Hamza coined to describe the 'unique, unprecedented trauma' of Syrian crisis on children.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health problem usually developed in people who have experienced or witnessed life-threatening or shocking events such as a natural disaster, road accident and sexual assault, among others. In face of a traumatic situation, nearly everyone experiences split-second changes in the body, triggered for either combat or flight, yet most people recover from these changes naturally.

Those who fail to recover over a period of time, may be diagnosed with PTSD. A condition in which they feel stressed and frightened even when not in the face of danger.