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C&R in the UAE

  • Posted On: 3rd June 2014

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By Emily Butcher 

As recently as 2007 local mental experts spoke to the lack of provisions in mental healthcare services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), quoted in an Arabian Business article saying the severe shortage of certified psychologists had contributed to the region hitting “rock bottom.” The “absolute lack of resources, ” they said, further encouraged existing stigmas and continues to result in many sufferers remaining undiagnosed and untreated.

Like many Middle Eastern and Asian countries, mental health in the UAE has traditionally been a taboo subject. The stigma has led to a lack of counselors and specialists in the field; many residents still believe mental diseases are contagious, and female psychologists are rare due to the fact that they will find it nearly impossible to marry if they obtain a related degree. In a country with a population of 4.8 million inhabitants, a scant 180 special psychiatrists were practicing in 2009, as noted by Dr. Bahjat Balbous, a psychiatrist at Al Amal Hospital, in a 2009 Khaleej Times article.

The lack of specialists and hospitals dedicated to caring for psychiatric patients means that no standardized means of funding treatment have been devised; most private insurance plans do not cover mental healthcare services and possible solutions explored include private contributions, a charity fund, government assistance or insurance coverage, as a possible means for financial support. Many healthcare providers and government officials stress the need for welfare initiatives to prevent and treat cases involving mental illness.

Although plans have been enacted to combat these problems, the scarcity of valid, reliable and culturally relevant psychiatric tools for research in the Arab world has led to complications, including a lack of reliable epidemiological base line data; large-scale community surveys are rarely used. Methodological problems with assessment and evaluation as well as culturally divergent concepts of mental disorders has hindered an improvement or furthered understanding of the shortcomings of the system.

While depression and anxiety are the most common mental disorders in the UAE, similar to other countries around the globe, suicide rates are exponentially higher than other developed countries. A large concentration of Indian migrant workers subjected to social abuse and desperate financial situations resulted in a suicide rate of one every three days in 2010, leading to a large amount of media coverage and public attention. As well as tackling issues of social abuse and unethical practices, a growing need for counseling services in the camps has been recognized.

The stigma does little to help the problem with the number of people suffering from mental health issues and depression due to everyday stress, lack of sleep, and drug abuse, numbers that continue to rise steadily.

Rising Rates of Obesity

Another major health concern facing the UAE is rapidly rising obesity rates. The country was recently ranked #18 on the Forbes’ list of fattest countries, and 68.3% of its residents are currently categorized as overweight. Furthermore, the UAE has the second highest rate of diabetes – 18.7% in 2009 – beat only by the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru where one-third of the population suffers from the disease.

A 2009 survey conducted in the UAE by VLCC, a private, multinational lifestyle management organization, recorded respondents’ opinions on the topic. Top reasons contributing to rates of obesity were listed as Dubai’s sedentary lifestyle, lack of knowledge about the disease, poor diet, cultural or genetic predisposition, and adverse climate.

As well as being linked to comorbid conditions like diabetes, recent research has highlighted the negative effect that being overweight can have on quality of life. Eighty percent of the survey’s respondents agree that being overweight negatively affects dayto- day activities.

Several public and private healthcare organizations are launching preventative health initiatives to help raise awareness of the problem. “Slimming programs” offered by companies such as VLCC focus on lifestyle and behavioral modification using a customized program implemented with the help of a specialized team of doctors, nutritionists, counselors and physiotherapists.

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Moving Forward

Recognizing the need to promote awareness, The Dubai Health Authority has taken important measures to change traditional misconceptions and launched a Mental Health Campaign at Rashid Hospital on World Mental Health Day on October 10 in 2008. The same year the UAE Ministry of Health launched a project to initiate research into the status of existing mental healthcare services, as well as to start screening patients for mental health disorders at the primary care level. Primary healthcare centers have been recognized as key components in the goal to diagnose a larger number of patients suffering from mental disorders and the first step has been recognized as educating primary caregivers, who often times fail to understand underlying mental health issues and simply treat patients for physical ailments. It is estimated that 60% of cases could be diagnosed and treated at this level, but only 25% of diagnosed patients currently receive treatment.

The following year, a week-long awareness drive was held in October to educate nurses and doctors about their critical role in caring for psychiatric patients and further educate the public and aim to eliminate the stigma surrounding the issue. A “Mental Health Challenges at Workplace in the UAE” seminar was also held during the drive urging Human Resources managers and other company representatives to actively screen employees to pick up on early signs of depression and other mental health disorders. To discourage stigmatization of these individuals, employers were asked to support them in getting treatment and welcome them back to the workplace after treatment.

These practices were supported by the Indian Consulate in response to the alarming number of suicides and undetected cases of depression and mental disorder in the Indian work camps. Free counseling services are offered to the community, who are directed to call a counseling helpline in times of distress. Counseling services will continue to be promoted and strengthened at the camps in the future.

Sources: World Health Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Emily Butcher                                                                                                               Managing Editor C&R Magazine                                                               www.vrphobia.eu                                                                                   ebutcher@vrphobia.com

Brenda Wiederhold About Brenda Wiederhold
President of Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) in Brussels, Belgium. Executive VP Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC), based in San Diego and Los Angeles, California. CEO of Interactive Media Institute a 501c3 non-profit Clinical Instructor in Department of Psychiatry at UCSD Founder of CyberPsychology, CyberTherapy, & Social Networking Conference Visiting Professor at Catholic University Milan.

Written by Brenda Wiederhold

President of Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) in Brussels, Belgium. Executive VP Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC), based in San Diego and Los Angeles, California. CEO of Interactive Media Institute a 501c3 non-profit Clinical Instructor in Department of Psychiatry at UCSD Founder of CyberPsychology, CyberTherapy, & Social Networking Conference Visiting Professor at Catholic University Milan.