For the past six years, children in Syria have been bombed and starved. They have seen their friends and families die before their eyes or buried under the rubble of their homes. They have watched their schools and hospitals destroyed, been denied food, medicine and vital aid, and been torn apart from their families and friends as they flee the fighting. Every year that the war goes on plumbs new, previously unimaginable depths of violence against children, and violations of international law by all sides. The psychological toll of living through six years of not knowing if this day will be their last is enormous. At least 3 million Syrian children under the age of six know nothing but war, and millions more have grown up in fear under the shadow of conflict. They are the next generation who will have to rebuild their shattered country – their future and the very future of Syria is in the balance. The stakes could not be higher.

Studies into the mental health of Syrian refugee children have shown staggering levels of trauma and distress. However, much less is known about the impact on children still inside the country, one in four of whom is now at risk of developing mental health disorders. To begin to further understand and address this urgent problem, Save the Children and partner organizations managed to speak with more than 450 children and adults inside seven of Syria’s 14 governorates about how the conflict has affected children’s daily lives, their main causes of stress and fear, who they turn to for help, and how they cope with constant war — a waking nightmare that seems to them as though it may never end.

Among the findings:

  • 84% of adults and almost all children said that ongoing bombing and shelling is the number one cause of psychological stress in children’s daily lives
  • 89% said children’s behavior has become more fearful and nervous as the war goes on
  • Two-thirds of children are said to have lost a loved one, or had their house bombed or shelled, or suffered war-related injuries
  • 51% said adolescents are turning to drugs to cope with the stress
  • 48% of adults have seen children who have lost the ability to speak or who have developed speech impediments since the start of the war
  • 49% said children regularly or always have feelings of grief or extreme sadness and 78% have these feelings at least some of the time
  • One in four children said they rarely or never have a place to go or someone to talk to when they are scared, sad or upset.