2025 update on actions relating to the Middle East conflict

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The ongoing situation across the Middle East, and in Gaza in particular, is deeply troubling. We continue to witness an escalation of conflict and humanitarian need in the region.

The cost and scale of suffering through lives lost, displacement, and trauma grows each day, and the impact on individuals, families, and communities continues to be profound.

It weighs heavily on us all. We hope to see an end to the violence through a peaceful and lasting resolution.

The consequences, both immediate and long-term, are already being deeply felt by civilians and healthcare workers with significant impacts on their mental health.

We offer our unequivocal support to all our members who have been impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. We have learned from our experience of supporting disasters and conflicts, that we have the most impact when we work with partners on the ground, in line with their needs. We absolutely recognise our important role in providing mental health support to those affected. You can read more about our decision not to make political statements but focus on providing practical action in this blog post.

The College, instead of making political statements will focus its efforts on providing practical mental health support in response to global events, when and where it’s needed most. We are guided by those in the areas of impact as to when and how we can provide support.

Since the conflict began in October 2023, we have been working, within our remit, to help where it is needed:

• During 2023 and 2024 we provided practical assistance to partners in emergency zones – in refugee camps in and around Palestine – by delivering enhanced psychological first-aid training to front line staff as well as relief workers, as requested. This incorporates essential mental health and physical care and supports those who have been victims of sexual violence.
• We are continuing to support partners on the ground to deliver training to psychosocial staff working with people with complex mental health problems in refugee camps in Palestine, using Arabic speaking members.
• We continue to work with our partners in Palestine to offer long-term practical support, training and capacity building, including supporting early career psychiatrists in Palestine by providing supervision sessions and opportunities to build networks with colleagues in the Middle East and in the UK.
• We have engaged with our diaspora groups and individual members impacted by the conflict – both in the UK and in the affected regions – providing them with direct help and support, dialogue, resources and our Psychiatric Support Service (PSS).
• We have reached out to the psychiatric associations in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran to offer support and resources and we wrote again to the Israeli Psychiatric Association on the first anniversary of the 7th October attack.
• We have updated our hub of information for international disasters with relevant resources for colleagues on the ground, including translations of the ‘Coping after a traumatic event’ patient leaflet into Arabic, Hebrew, French and Farsi. The hub also includes guidance, free eLearning modules on the mental health response for humanitarian emergencies and signposts to a number of additional relevant resources.
• We participated in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) roundtable on mental health aid for Gaza.
• We have written to the current and former UK Foreign Secretaries four times. Both previously and now, we have highlighted the significant impact armed conflict and humanitarian crisis has on the mental health of individuals and offered our expertise and support. We again called on the Government to do their best to bring the situation to an early resolution, including the end of violence and the reunion of individuals with their loved ones.
• We have spoken with senior government officials, and advisers, and raised concerns about the mental health implications in both the short and longer term of the conflict for all those affected.

Our support was recognised as instrumental in strengthening local capacity and mental health services, with partners expressing deep appreciation for our ongoing help.

It is vital that support is provided to those on the ground, but also to those in the UK and beyond, who are extremely worried about their family and friends, as well as fearful of what the conflict could mean for their own safety.

We are mindful of the toll this conflict is taking on all of us, not least, the feeling of being powerless to effect a change in this situation. I would again like to remind all of you of our Psychiatrists' Support Service which provides free, rapid, high-quality peer support by telephone to psychiatrists of all grades. Please do share these details with any of our membership who may benefit.

We wish for a future where people in the Middle East can live in peace, stability and safety and all those affected can be supported to get the help they need.

7 August 2025 – We have updated the statement to include more examples of our international work and our focus to provide help where and when it’s asked for.