Ignorance: The Role Of Mental Health In The Middle East

Words: 1513
Pages: 7
Open Document
Mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s mood, thinking, and behavior. And, like most things that cannot be physically seen, it is often ignored. In the past, many western celebrities have spoken out about mental disorders they’ve been struggling with in an effort to raise awareness and to put an end to the ignorance. In 2011, for example, famous actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has publicly spoken about her struggle with bipolar disorder and her support in changing the way we view mental health. Zeta-Jones was famously quoted saying, “there is no need to suffer silently and there is no shame in seeking help” (People, 2011, para. 2). Such public support for the topic has helped launch campaigns like End The Stigma and Time to Change, …show more content…
The Arab approach towards mental health is limited to uneducated claims and ancient religious teachings. Due to the lack of awareness in Arab societies regarding mental health, very little is done in order to help and support those struggling with it. While progress has been made recently in an attempt to raise awareness, Arabs still have a long way to go in order to dismantle the stigma and show support for those who need it.
For this reason, the stigma and ignorance has resulted in many negative outcomes in regards to the Middle East’s progression-- or lack thereof—in Psychological fields, the economic impact of enforcing the stigma, and the affect it has on mental health patients. The stigma of mental health has proven to be an obstacle against the progression of the psychological fields in Arab countries. During the eighth and thirteenth century, also known as Islamic Golden Age, Arabic-Islamic scientists were pioneers in the field of Psychology. Scientists like Al-Razi and Ibn-Sina paved the way to modern Psychology with their groundbreaking contributions to the field. Al-Razi, in particular, was the director of one of the first psychiatric wards in the world. In addition, he was among the first in the world to publish books on mental illness and psychotherapy, which is a more psychologically, rather than medically, focused treatment for mental patients (Al-Ghazal, n.d., …show more content…
Depression, as discussed earlier, took a toll on her motivation by discouraging her from doing her work or paying attention at school. Furthermore, her mental health affected her physically with a sudden gain in weight and general sense of exhaustion all the time, which, in turn, worsened her mental illness. Such a change in behavior was noticed by her teachers who, it being an American school, were mainly Westerners. They encouraged her to seek help and professional treatment but her parents refused, calling it “shameful” and “unnecessary”. Instead of getting help, she was instead urged by her parents to focus on strengthening her faith. That did not work, however, and her principal had to present her parents with the ultimatum that, due to her low grades, she will either have to get help or be expelled. That’s when her parents finally realized the severity of ignoring the problem and immediately took her to a psychiatrist. My cousin is now prescribed with anti-depressants and anxiety medication, and she also visits a therapist once a week. Her parents have been reading up on mental health ever since and now have a much more liberal outlook on
Show More

Related Documents: Ignorance: The Role Of Mental Health In The Middle East

Heritage Assessment Essay

individual to determine his or her ethnic, religious and cultural background in relationship with health, illness and diseases. Heritage and culture are different just like individual fingerprint. When looking at someone’s heritage and tradition, it consists of methods used to maintain health, protect health, and restore health. These concepts deal with person’s physical, mental and spiritual belief. Every individual has their own heritage, and this is very different among different…

Words 1935 - Pages 8

Homosexuality and Withcraft vs.the Monotheistic Holy Texts Essay

is this belief correct? Jesus Christ, having noted the faith and righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed: "Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12) If we accept these words as true, and…

Words 6751 - Pages 28

Essay on Nineteen Eighty Four Literacy Criticism

Winston's inevitable capture, torture, and reprogramming and his betrayal of Julia and his own humanity. Humanity is an important concept to remember in thinking about Nineteen Eighty-Four—particularly because the author's own humanity plays a key role in the work's construction. For instance, the critic Peter Davison argues against the prevailing belief of critics and biographers that Orwell simply inverted the final digits of the year in which he finished the book, 1948. Rather, he posits an arithmetical…

Words 7443 - Pages 30

Analysis Of The Archaic Revival

QUOTES by Dr. H. Pelo Terence McKenna, The Archaic Revival, page 1 Terence McKenna The Archaic Revival Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFO’s, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess and the End of History San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1992. ISBN: 0062506137 Copyright ©2004 Dr. H. Pelo. All rights reserved. QUOTES by Dr. H. Pelo Terence McKenna, The Archaic Revival, page 2 Short editorial note This book is a collection of essays…

Words 7884 - Pages 32

An Introduction to Intercultural Communication Essay

structure their companies, manage staff and communicate with customers. Intercultural communication gives them an insight into the areas they need to address or understand. Intercultural communication theories are now also used within the education, health care and other public services due to growing multicultural populations. Cross Cultural Understanding Terminology within the cross cultural communications field can sometimes be baffling to those reading the literature, websites or promotional…

Words 29173 - Pages 117