Giving Compass' take:

• Essam Daod shares how the proper intervention can help refugees to reframe their experiences to create better long-term phycological outcomes. 

• How can philanthropy fund mental health support for refugees? As the refugee crisis continues, how can these services be scaled?

• Find out why migration will increase in the coming decades. 

I want to tell you about Omar, a five-year-old Syrian refugee boy who arrived to the shore on Lesbos on a crowded rubber boat. Crying, frightened, unable to understand what's happening to him, he was right on the verge of developing a new trauma. I knew right away that this was a golden hour, a short period of time in which I could change his story, I could change the story that he would tell himself for the rest of his life. I could reframe his memories.

Omar looked at me with scared, tearful eyes and said, "What is this?"as he pointed out to the police helicopter hovering above us.

"It's a helicopter! It's here to photograph you with big cameras, because only the great and the powerful heroes, like you, Omar, can cross the sea."

Omar looked at me, stopped crying and asked me, "I'm a hero?"

I talked to Omar for 15 minutes. And I gave his parents some guidance to follow. This short psychological intervention decreases the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues in the future,preparing Omar to get an education, join the workforce, raise a family and beyond. How? By stimulating the good memories that will be stored in the amygdala, the emotional storage of the human brain. These memories will fight the traumatic ones, if they are reactivated in the future. To Omar, the smell of the sea will not just remind him of his traumatic journey from Syria. Because to Omar, this story is now a story of bravery.

We need mental health professionals to join rescue teams during times of active crisis.

Read the full article about mental health support for refugees by Essam Daod at TED.