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Amid a prolonged crisis, Lebanon is witnessing new challenges in the relationship between parents and schools. This article examines the psychological repercussions of collective trauma on parenting and educational communication, explored through the prism of psychoanalysis.

Lebanon has been entrenched in a protracted, multifaceted structural crisis, compounded by prolonged security instability, regional conflicts, political tensions and sporadic outbreaks of violence. These factors have fostered an environment of uncertainty and anxiety. The war that erupted in 2023 has layered additional trauma and disruption, further straining the country's already fragile social and psychological fabric. The convergence of these protracted crises has subjected the Lebanese population to mounting, cumulative pressures that have permeated every aspect of daily life, deeply affecting both adults and children alike.

Recent reports from Lebanese educators highlight a troubling shift in parental behavior, with teachers expressing frustration over interactions marked by irritability, aggression and impulsive anger. More than in the pre-crisis years, these parents exhibit a diminished ability to listen and engage with the teachers’ arguments, frequently defending their own actions – and at times those of their children – without justification.

Drawing from observations made by professionals working closely with parents, and pending a broader, more in-depth study to assess the full scope of these issues, let us explore the hypothesis that underlying psychological distress influences both parental behavior and engagement with the educational system. More specifically, the question we must ask is as follows: what significant impact have the prolonged crises faced by the population had on the psychological health of parents (and adults in general), and how might this be contributing to the behavioral changes observed by teachers, such as irritability, anxiety, impatience and reactivity in relationships, poor communication, overprotectiveness and, overall, a dominance of impulsive behavior over reflection and reason? While it is crucial to acknowledge that each individual’s personal history has undoubtedly contributed to the exacerbation of these symptoms, we will set this aside for now in the context of this article.

First, a clarification: in response to the nearly constant anxiety caused by the traumatogenic environment in which we live, our psyche develops a range of unconscious defense mechanisms. While these mechanisms serve to protect an individual’s somatopsychic balance, they can also contribute to the denial of both internal and external realities. For example, teachers’ observation of psychological immaturity in parents can be understood through the lens of the regression mechanism: faced with intense anxiety, parents may unconsciously revert to more infantile behaviors, allowing for impulsive and unreflective responses.

In the context of Lebanon’s ongoing crises, repressed frustration and anger – stemming from economic hardship or ever-present sense of insecurity – may be unconsciously displaced onto teachers, who become unintended targets of parents’ suppressed dissatisfaction. This could explain the rise in conflicts during interactions, obstructing any mutual understanding.

We have previously highlighted, in numerous articles, the traumatic effects on the psyche of the Lebanese population. Traumas are not forgotten; they are stored in our unconscious memory. When ignored, they affect not only the individual psyche and soma, but also our relationships with ourselves and others. For example, the emotional upheavals experienced by parents hamper their ability to acknowledge their own trauma, along with its impact on their parenting. This can result in more reactive and less adaptive behaviors – such as constant anxiety, hypersensitivity, defensiveness and various disorders – and distort their perception of teachers’ emotions or statements, leading to frequent conflicts in response.

We also know that past vulnerabilities can be reactivated in times of crisis, triggering a regressive need for security – both for oneself and one’s children. Heightened fears, especially when a parent is absent or emotionally unavailable, can intensify family anxiety and fuel overprotective behaviors. Concerned about their children’s vulnerability, parents experience an erosion of mutual trust and a profound sense of powerlessness, often projecting their frustrations onto teachers, whom they perceive as incapable of offering the needed protection.

Adults who have survived trauma, as many parents in Lebanon have due to ongoing insecurity, the recent conflict and the looming fear of its recurrence, may experience significant emotional instability, struggling to manage deep-seated emotions. They may feel numb or overwhelmed, leading to inconsistent behavior. The cumulative effect of daily stresses and prolonged trauma can erode the individual’s ability to confront everyday challenges in a mature and emotionally regulated way, exacerbating any pre-existing tendencies toward psychological immaturity.

Let us now explore a common mechanism in interpersonal relationships: transference. It is an unconscious process through which individuals project feelings and attitudes from past relationships onto people in their present life. Often, these projections stem from unresolved childhood experiences with parents or other key figures. In the school environment, teachers may become surrogate authority figures onto whom parents unconsciously transfer emotions and expectations tied to their own past experiences with authority, such as those with their parents or former teachers. For parents who have experienced frustration or narcissistic wounds in these relationships, unresolved conflicts may be projected onto teachers.

Countertransference, in turn, is the reciprocal process in which the interlocutor reacts to others’ transference, shaped by their own unconscious emotions and personal history. Teachers working with parents bearing the emotional scars of trauma may experience a range of countertransference reactions. These may include a desire to rescue the child from what they perceive as a hard to grasp family environment, feelings of anger or frustration toward parents they view as lacking cooperation or neglectful, or a tendency to reject hostile parents. If teachers are unaware of their own countertransference tendencies, or if they are still processing their own unresolved trauma, these unconscious emotional responses may lead to tense interactions that further hinder communication, potentially creating a negative feedback loop that exacerbates an already strained relationship.

It seems unlikely that, at least in the short term, Lebanese citizens will be able to alleviate the endemic conflicts that continue to destabilize their lives. It is crucial, therefore, that the relevant institutions acknowledge the long-term need for sustained mental health support. Addressing psychosomatic scars of this crisis requires a multidimensional and compassionate approach that recognizes the deep impact on children, their parents, and the wider educational and societal community.