A Qualitative Study of Emotional Numbing, Developmental Regression, and the Struggle to Survive Among Gazan Children During Genocide

This qualitative study examines the psychological effects of genocide on children in Gaza, with particular attention to emotional numbing, developmental regression, and survival-oriented adaptation under sustained violence. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirty Palestinian mothers residing in displacement settings in Rafah, Khan Younis, and Nuseirat refugee camp, the analysis identifies six interrelated themes: fear and anxiety associated with airstrikes and drone exposure; nightmares and sleep disruption; emotional dissociation; behavioral dysregulation; apparent acclimatization to ongoing violence; and coping practices grounded in spirituality, creativity, and physical proximity to caregivers. Mothers’ accounts illustrate the cumulative nature of psychological distress in a context marked by prolonged displacement and the collapse of institutional, humanitarian, and mental health systems. Patterns of emotional suppression and regression are therefore interpreted not as signs of resilience, but as adaptive responses to extreme and ongoing threat. The study contributes to scholarship on child mental health in contexts of mass violence by highlighting how genocidal conditions reshape trauma expression and limit conventional pathways of recovery, emphasizing the need for trauma-informed approaches that attend to structural and political determinants of children’s wellbeing.