Luma Makari was in an online meeting about her company last week when the bombings in Lebanon began. Working from her family home in Beirut, the 25-year-old Lebanese tech entrepreneur rushed to open her windows to prevent them from shattering from the blasts, a practice many people in parts of the Middle East have long become accustomed to.
It was the day Israel dropped at least 100 bombs on Lebanon in just 10 minutes, killing at least 254 people and wounding over a 1,000.
“You’re very aware of changes within your environment, like the drone sounds… I’m always scanning the environment and being super hypervigilant,” she says.
For Makari, the work call and the war are no longer separate realities. Like millions of others, ordinary life now unfolds under bombardment. She is also the cofounder of Elggo, a mental health platform serving young people across the Arab world. Lebanon’s repeated crises have led to the creation of a new generation of digital mental health tools – platforms now becoming essential as trauma, anxiety and displacement rise again.
Built by Crisis
First launched in the UAE, Elggo had already worked with 17,000 youth across the Gulf and the Middle East when the latest conflict began. Makari and her fellow Lebanese cofounder, Mirna Mneimneh, launched the Elggo Relief Platform in response – a digital space offering free online group sessions led by therapists in the region, alongside AI journalling options and access to a directory of trusted mental health resources across the UAE, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Oman.
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That momentum did not emerge overnight. Years of conflict, economic collapse and social strain have pushed mental health into public conversation in Lebanon faster than in many neighbouring markets.
“It’s like, how can I express myself?” Makari says. “And really have myself heard and relate to other people who are in a similar situation?”
Past studies say rates of depression and anxiety are two to four times higher than the global average in conflict zones. The recent war involving the US, Israel and Iran has claimed thousands of lives and deepened demand for mental health support across the region.
“We’ve seen a clear shift from browsing to urgency – people are looking for immediate support, often the same day,” Teddy Kalife, founder of Areeka Care, says.
“Users are also more overwhelmed and less consistent due to the chaos around them.” His platform, which connects people with local licensed specialists, is offering a free session to those impacted by war.
Lebanon’s Blueprint
Dr Georges Karam, psychiatrist and director of the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), says Lebanon has greater awareness of mental health than many neighbouring markets – something he attributes in part to the country’s repeated crises over the past two decades.