Psychiatry, Disaster, Security: Mediterranean Assemblages.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Medical Anthropology
• Disaster Studies

Background:

• A 1999 earthquake in Turkey precipitated widespread psychological suffering.
• Turkish mental health professionals improvised therapeutic responses to the disaster's scale.
• A transnational collaboration emerged between Turkish and Israeli psychiatrists and psychologists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the adaptability and mobility of psychiatric expertise in a disaster context.
• To analyze how psychiatric expertise can bridge divergent political and social contexts.
• To understand the conditions for medical expertise circulation and emerging transregional arrangements.

Main Methods:

• Extended ethnographic fieldwork in earthquake-affected regions of Turkey.
• Qualitative analysis of the development of a specific psychiatric intervention.
• Tracing transnational professional entanglements between Turkey and Israel.

Main Results:

• Psychiatric expertise demonstrated striking adaptability and mobility in response to the earthquake.
• The collaboration created a common psychiatrically constituted space, integrating disaster effects and political realities.
• Transnational entanglements facilitated the circulation of medical expertise in the region.

Conclusions:

• Psychiatric interventions can be adapted and mobilized across diverse geopolitical contexts.
• Transnational collaborations can foster shared therapeutic spaces in the wake of disasters.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for emerging arrangements of psychiatry, disaster response, and security.