How do you cope with the effects of a war happening thousands of miles away?
San Diego County is home to over 12,000 Iranians, and nearly half of the Iranian American population lives in California. Since February, Iranians have witnessed a months-long war with the United States; thousands dead and neighborhoods damaged beyond repair.
For the Iranians in San Diego who are far enough to escape the physical effects of war, a non-physical symptom festers: trauma.
In May, the Association of Iranian American Professionals, a San Diego non-profit dedicated to strengthening the local Iranian community, hosted their monthly meeting at Sufi Mediterranean Cuisine, featuring a panel of mental health specialists who spoke on coping with the psychological impact of war.
“We are sitting here in safety while our friends and family are being bombed,” Shidfar Rouhani said.
Rouhani, 48, is Iranian and grew up in the United States. He now lives in Scripps Ranch and is a member of the Association of Iranian American Professionals.
Rouhani was cut off from his family in Iran for months after the start of the war. The nation was forced into a blackout as its government cut off access to the internet, breaking already weak connections between families thousands of miles away.
“I finally heard from a cousin. I was so relieved that she was alive,” Rouhani said. “She made it very clear that all the explosions are making a psychological impact.”
One of the event speakers, Sherri Ardekani, a licensed psychotherapist for over 24 years, specializes in family counseling and uses dialectical behavioral therapy to provide patients with long-term coping strategies.
In this type of therapy, individuals find balance between acceptance and change by reaching a middle ground.
“We are trying to balance and accept what’s happening in the world, what’s happening in Iran, and how the United States and everywhere else are responding,” Ardekani said.
Mona Moazzaz, 45, is an Iranian living downtown. Moazzaz said Iranians have not known peace for a long time, spending decades living in harsh economic conditions and social repression.
“For many Iranians, saying ‘no’ to war is a privilege they do not have.”
Trauma, said Ardekani, is a creature of the past and creates real-time symptoms from events long gone.
Dialectical behavioral therapy shifts the mind and body into the present with the help of mindfulness practices.
Ardekani encouraged the group to focus on their five senses when they feel overwhelmed by stress or anxiety, a practice called “sourcing.”
“When you’re having a panic attack, you’re not going to be able to rationalize or do anything,” she said. “Mindfulness brings together your emotional mind and your rational mind.”
Navid Zamani, a marriage and family therapist, works with refugee and immigrant communities in North Park. He discussed the complexity of treating individuals from different cultures.
Zamani said American psychology cannot be copied and pasted onto Iranians because their way of communicating is different.
In the region’s native tongue, Farsi, Iranians use anatomical words, such as the gut or heart, to express themselves. For example, the word “anxious” translates to “salty heart.”
“When we speak Farsi, our words come from poetry,” Zamani said.
Zamani noticed the effect of trauma from war is generational as he worked with Iraqi and Afghan clients. Despite escaping a war in their home country, familial pain prolongs hardship in a new place.
His response to this realization was to engage with family counseling, which he found to be more effective for clients and their support systems.
Behnaz Makki completed her education in Iran and practices psychology through research and counseling. In treating trauma, Makki begins with the concept of a “shadow self,” a psychological concept conceived over 100 years ago.
“Shadows are forgotten parts of us,” Makki said. They stem from trauma and unresolved conflict, causing part of an individual’s personality to go into hiding.
Makki suggests paced breathing and short walks to help calm a frantic nervous system, most effective when combined.
These exercises, she said, when combined with therapy, help individuals confront their trauma and begin to recover from the resounding impacts of war.
