Mental health at a crossroad

Unfortunately, mental healthcare has never been a priority for Lebanon’s public or private sectors. The responsibility for this essential service has largely been outsourced to benevolent organizations and funded through meager subsidies. Psychiatric institutions have managed to survive primarily out of necessity, rather than adequate resources. Privately, the field remains under-resourced in terms of workforce and facilities. There are around 70 psychiatrists available to provide hospital-based psychiatric care, and the number has dwindled due to the crisis. Over 30 percent of these doctors were seeking relocation abroad in part or in full, according to a 2021 survey by the Lebanese Psychiatric Society which indicated that most are unlikely to return unless there is a radical change in the country’s situation. Psychiatric nursing, which has always been a weak element in the care system, struggles to recruit and retain professionals, with many being lured away by opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation