In summary, the above history of occupation with political conflict caused major challenges to the Palestinian people. According to Afana et al. [8] historical events have made around one-third of Palestinians in need of mental health interventions which makes mental ill-health one of the largest but least acknowledged of all health problems. These events imprinted this conflict on the collective consciousness of the Palestinian state in a negative way [3]. This raises questions about the mental health needs of Palestinians who live in these chronic conditions as well as questions about the increased demands on mental health services. The following sections explain the developmental challenges on the mental health services in the surrounding countries or region.
Development of mental health care in the Arabic region In the Arab states, religion has played a key role in many aspects of people’s lifestyles and in political issues [9, 10]. The Islamic model of health care has been influenced by the cultural context, and is seen as inseparable from Islamic values [11]. For example, the most significant nurse in the Islamic history and Arabic culture was Rufaidah Al-Asalmiya (570-632 AD) [12]. The history of mental health services in the Arab countries goes back to the “golden” periods of Islamic civilization. Baghdad in Iraq had many mental hospitals established in the year 705 AD [13]. Muslim scientists established during the 10th century some of the basics which are practised nowadays [14].