F.The former Afghan special unit Makez Mirza is a shadow of itself.

She bangs her head against the wall, cries inexorably and has loss of appetite. She shares a room with her sisters at the Radisson Blu in West London, which has been her home for more than a month.

Orphaned at a young age, she confessed to an Afghan charity and health worker who visited her at the hotel that she wanted to end her life. Since the Taliban swept over Kabul at the end of August, she has feared that her work in the army will put her younger brother’s life at risk.

“Mirza was withdrawn and spoke little,” Karim Shirin, director of the Afghan Association in London, recalls his meeting with her.

Mr Shirin tells The Independent that depression, anxiety, and poor mental health are common among most newcomers. More than 8,000 Afghan nationals became Evacuated to Great Britain August under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).

“The people fled their country in a terrible way,” says Shirin.

“You are upset about the situation. Most of them who arrived were working in the military, which collapsed. They have lost their jobs, their livelihoods – everything they have built in the last 20 years, everything that haunts them. “

Mr Shirin says Ms Mirza has been referred to the West London GP Federation for advice, which has not yet started.

Dr. However, Waheed Arian, an NHS ambulance doctor, says the trauma most Afghan refugees are fleeing from is deeply complex. Advice alone is not enough, he emphasizes.

Scenes of airport rush and families caught in the crossfire after the Taliban overturned the Afghan government brought back memories of the horrors he experienced at the age of 15 Disorder (PTSD), says Dr. Arian to The Independent.

I would look at a red bus, but I would see a tank

Dr. Waheed Arian, NHS A&E doctor who fled Afghanistan when he was 15

“I would look at a red bus, but I would see a tank,” he says. Dr. It took Arian nearly 10 years to diagnose and treat his condition appropriately. This was only made possible by his psychiatric report as part of his professional training.

The underlying problems are complex; they are fleeing persecution, bombs, hunger, malnutrition, refugee camps – all a constant threat to their survival, explains Dr. Arian. This leaves them in a constant fight-or-flight response, he adds.

Forty-one years of war have mentally scarred Million Afghans. A 2018 European Union survey found that 85 percent of the population had or had experienced at least one traumatic event, an average of four.

Under Britain Operation Welcome, The Department of Health and Welfare has pledged £ 3 million to help newcomers get the medical care they need. Funding will cover mental health, infectious disease screening, maternity care and access to prescriptions.

But young Afghans, including the special forces The Independent spoke to, say they have not received any psychological support. Mr Shirin says that some of the refugees are still waiting for their NHS numbers while some have received them.

Dr. Waheed Arian, an NHS A&E doctor who came to the UK from Afghanistan at the age of 15, took a decade to diagnose and treat his own PTSD

(Dr. Waheed Arian)

Regardless of the millions flowing into the system, according to Dr. Arian requires a thorough assessment by a clinical psychologist in a multidisciplinary setting through a biopsychosocial lens that looks at disease and illness from a broader perspective.

That means physically recognizing whether they have an illness and mentally and psychologically whether they feel safe. If you don’t feel safe, how severe are your flashbacks and nightmares? Accordingly, Dr. Arian that the right treatment should be given.

Undiagnosed and untreated, says Dr. Arian, poor mental health will inhibit their social integration, interfere with language learning, and prevent them from reaching their full potential.

Dr. Arian describes the NHS-run mental health system as “broken”. The challenges are diverse and interwoven: lack of money, insufficient planning, poor allocation of resources, to name just a few.

“Mental health is not high on the list of priorities and is not receiving the same level of medical care as it is for other illnesses,” he says.

At A&E, Dr. Arian has been suicide cases of newly arrived Afghans as well as uprooted British Afghans in the UK for years. Data from NHS Digital shows that in 114,000 NHS emergency room visits – an average of 312 per day – in the year through March, “feeling depressed” was a patient’s main complaint.

Accurate data on the extent of the mental health crisis affecting the Afghan community, including suicide numbers, are difficult to come by.

However, the pandemic not only highlighted the need for better mental health services, but exposed them as an acutely underserved area with a shortage of highly qualified staff.

To fill this gap, he founded Arian Wellbeing two years ago and is determined to use holistic and scientific methods to improve people’s mental wellbeing. If successful, Dr. Arian to replicate the model across the NHS.

“It is not common for Afghan men to cry in front of people”

After fleeing war and persecution, refugees face another battle to reunite with loved ones.

During the evacuation last month, Afghan special forces soldier Usman Khan arrived at Heathrow with his six-month-old son. His wife and five-year-old daughter were brought to Germany. His parents are in Southampton. His requests to the Ministry of the Interior have so far remained unanswered.

Sleepy and pale, he looks after his baby around the clock. Lack of sleep, stress and dizziness put a strain on his mental health.

“When I was quarantined at Heathrow, they didn’t give me baby formula,” he told The Independent in the lobby of the Hilton Metropole in west London.

“I gave normal adult milk with sugar. He developed a sore throat and ear and cried for 24 hours, ”says Khan. His son has better provisions in the new hotel.

He wants to see his wife and parents again and says: “The worst thing that most people experience is the prolonged separation from their loved ones.”

Khan believes the mental health crisis is exacerbated by other factors: lack of information, housing, money, language courses, decent food, and navigating the Kafkaesque interior ministry’s procedures.

The worst that most people face is prolonged separation from loved ones

Usman Khan, Afghan father of a 7 month old boy

Depression is hidden from many, he says, and some don’t even realize they are depressed. He remembers a father collapsing when he told a volunteer that his kids don’t eat hotel food and he has no money to buy them outside.

“I’ve seen several such faces. It is not common for Afghan men to cry in front of the people, “says Khan, adding,” Imagine the problem.

“If you don’t have any money, it’s boring here. It’s like living in a prison, ”he adds.

Young Afghans, hopes and fears

The hotel lobby is a cacophony of children’s laughter and crying. Volunteers in bright green flak jackets scurry in and out with supplies. A security guard informs The Independent, on condition of anonymity, that the newcomers will be staying for three months.

For three young Afghan men in traditional Perahan Tunbanand jeans, the overcast sky and the stormy weather outside are no different from worrying about their future here.

Not in work or education, they tell The Independent that they are concerned about whether their home (Afghanistan) home (Afghanistan) professional qualifications will be recognized in the UK. They try to spend their time using the on-site gym. Others watch Bollywood films.

Dr. Waheed Arian came to the UK as a refugee in 1999. He worked as a kitchen porter and salesman to finance his education and at the same time supported his family in Afghanistan.

(Dr. Waheed Arian)

“We only need support from the home office so that we can get a home quickly and get on with our lives,” says a 17-year-old Arman Awad, who wants to start his studies.

“Our members are working with local authorities to provide a home for Afghan refugees settling in England,” said a spokesman for the National Housing Federation.

“It will take time for people to move, but the local authorities and housing associations are working as soon as possible.”

Mr. Shirin says that many of the young people had good jobs and were not thinking of leaving Afghanistan. The recent evacuees The Independent spoke to are angry about a policy that prevented they do not work while processing their claim.

After Dr. Arian arrived in the UK in 1999 with no money, no education and no big dreams, he knows the hurdles of not having an income all too well. He worked as a kitchen porter and salesman to finance his education and at the same time to look after his family in Afghanistan.

“Without work, I wouldn’t be an NHS doctor now,” says Dr. Arian and calls on the government to reverse its previous policy.

“You have a lot of talent and resilience. It will help our society and economy if we support them. “

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