"Your family loves you rich and your husband loves you healthy".  As the Yemeni proverb says. That's how the forty years female began to tell her story .

Rajaa says her life was very beautiful, stable, and quiet, but soon everything changed when she was 30 years old. At the moment she discovered that she had diabetes, tests indicated that her body's blood sugar was high, Her health quickly deteriorated, starting with impaired sight and then kidney function, and diabetic foot sores until it developed into gangrene. The doctors decided to amputate her leg .At first Rajaa refused the decision of the doctors, but the days passed and the pain intensified, so she accepted the amputation of her leg. Rajaa became helpless and she had to crawl when she needs to move in the house which made it difficult to perform the simplest tasks as a wife and mother of six children. Rajaa couldn't accept the idea that she become disabled and in need of permanent help from those around her. She became very tearful when thinking about her situation. she isolated herself in her room and refused to go out to meet anyone.

Rajaa says :"The thing that bothers me the most was when  someone looks at me with pity, which made me feel that I lost something, so I decided to isolate myself from others".

Meanwhile ,her husband, who is supposed to support her, failed her. After years of denial and abandonment, he decided to marry another woman saying that Rajaa was no longer valid as a wife. When Rajaa refused her husband second marriage , he verbally and physically assaulted her, forgetting everything she had done for him.

Rajah adds: "When the doctors decided to amputate my leg I was traumatized, but the hardest part  was my husband's behaviors and letting me down, I couldn't believe that he would actually marry, I felt disappointed, let down and  oppressed ,I supported him and gave him the money I inherited from my father and my jewels, but that is how he rewards me. ".

Rajaa felt helplessness, worthlessness, and dominated by negative thoughts and constant anxiety. Her pain intensified when the husband brought his second wife to live with her in the same house. She began to suffer from sleep disorder  ,distress,  loss of appetite and loss of pleasure in life .She also  neglected her children and treated  them nervously and aggressively.

A neighbor noticed Rajaa's suffering and convinced her that her condition needed specialized psychosocial assistance, but Rajaa rejected this idea , for fear of being called crazy in addition to describing her as disabled. However ,the neighbor insisted and shared the hotline number of the psychiatric Care Developmental Care Foundation with Rajaa to contact the hotline specialist who explained to Rajaa the importance of psychosocial support and that she would receive the services with complete confidentiality .Rajaa was  encouraged most when she knew that the MHPSS  center is located in the neighborhood where she lives, so she agreed and  asked her neighbor to take her to the MHPSS center.

The psychologist  says: "We received Raja at the MHPSS center and her case was studied, and then she was presented to the psychiatrist who diagnosed her with severe depression,and then he prescribed her the appropriate psychotropic medication that is obtained free of charge from the MHPSS center, and referred her to psychologist for psychotherapy sessions".

Rajaa underwent psychological sessions in which various techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy were used. She was also trained in respiratory relaxation exercises and educated on emotional release methods and how to deal with stress, which helps her enjoy psychological resilience and enables her to face possible psychological trauma.

The follow-up psychologist adds: "With Raja's regular attendance for the sessions, which lasted for two months, she was able to overcome her suffering and, she accepted herself more ,and became  more open with others. The apprehensions, distress and anxiety that accompanied her disappeared, and feelings of contentment appeared on her".

Family counseling sessions were also held, which included the husband, in which he was educated about his wife's situation and the correct methods of dealing with her, considering that educating the husband is one of the important aspects in the Rajaa's recovery.

Raja talks about the psychologist and says, "I will never forget her support for me. She listened to me with great care and attention. It was not easy, and I recovered a lot after the psychological support I received, and now I feel strong and I accept what happened, thanks to the MHPSS center".

With the support of the United Nations Population Fund, the Psychiatric Care Developmental Foundation implemented the MHPSS centers project in Ibb and Taiz governorates, targeting gender-based violence survivors and women and girls at risk of gender-based violence. During the year 2022, specialized MHPSS  services and focused/ non-specialized MHPSS services were provided to more than 18,000 female beneficiaries.