GOMA, Congo (AP) — For Nelly Shukuru, there was no way out. The fighting that forced her from her home, the squalid conditions in the displacement camp in eastern Congo, the hunger, all felt inescapable. The 51-year-old planned to hang herself.
She said a neighbor stopped her just in time. “In my mind, the suffering was permanent," said the mother of six, seated in a health clinic. “The people who have died are better off than I am.
” Years of conflict in eastern Congo have created a dire mental health crisis. Aid groups say the number of people seeking care has spiked as fighting intensifies. Some of the worst affected struggle to survive in cramped, violent displacement sites that aren't conducive to recovery.
The number of people who received psychosocial support in camps around the main city of Goma increased more than 200% between January and June compared to the same period last year — from 6,600 to more than 20,000 — according to aid group Action Against Hunger. The number of people reporting suicidal thoughts has jumped from about five a month at the beginning of the year to more than 120, it said. More than 100 armed groups have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda.
The violence has escalated as the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, has reemerged. The fighting has displaced millions. Over 600,000 shelter in camps near Goma.
More people are experiencing anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as.