Karma Ekmekji on mental health in constant crisis mode, showing up to work amidst personal and collective trauma, and how the (in)famous Lebanese resilience should not be taken for granted.

Mind/work with Jasmine El-Gamal

Mental health takes on a whole new meaning when you live in a country in constant crisis. At the age of 40, my guest Karma Ekmekji, a mediation advisor and peace and security professional, along with millions of Lebanese, has lived through multiple upheavals in her lifetime. A devastating civil war, internal conflict, political crime and economic strife have traumatized generations of Lebanese. The COVID pandemic battered an already exhausted population. And as if that weren't enough for one country to handle, in August 202o, nearly 3 thousand tons of stored ammonium nitrate exploded at the Beirut Port, sending shock waves of destruction across the Lebanese capital and causing untold physical, emotional, financial and psychological damage to its residents.

Despite all this, perhaps because of it, the Lebanese people have always been described as unusually resilient. And while it's true that they had to become so, one has to question whether that label has been taken for granted.

In this episode, I talk to Karma about the meaning of resilience and mental health in Lebanon today. We discuss how mental health in the workplace is coloured by collective trauma and suffering; how to model healthy coping mechanisms to children; how the mental health conversation has evolved across generations and whether Gen Z is overcorrecting the mistakes of our parents.