Mental health in the UAE: we need to talk.
This guest post is part of AJ+’s ongoing conversation about mental health, how different communities deal with it, and who’s getting left out of the conversation.
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By Ahmad Altamimi
Growing up in the Middle East, more specifically in the United Arab Emirates, I hadn't acquired much knowledge regarding mental illness and mental health, due to the lack of education when it comes to psychological and mental health. I personally did not know that the anxiety I was going through had a medical name, or that it was widespread among youth of my age.
In my 21 years, I have made a lot of friends from different backgrounds and cultures who lived in the UAE, but their families and the society surrounding them were not willing to accept mental issues such as depression and anxiety as real illnesses. The most common response you would receive regarding mental issues from the people in the UAE is, “It’s all in your head.” I have heard this sentence many times from my own parents and family friends.
Of course there are institutions and medical centers around the cities of the UAE that offer advanced psychological help, but they are only available to those who seek it out, willingly go out of their way to get professional help, and, of course, have the finances and time necessary to gain access. In the case of anxiety and depression, this is a difficult thing to do with no moral support from friends or family. In my case, this rooted back to the lack of awareness within the society that surrounded me.
A ‘deviant’ sub-culture
This lack of education about mental health drives stereotypes about mental illness, which have created a sub-society within UAE society.
Those who have no knowledge about the seriousness of these matters will categorize those who seek therapy as really ill people and look at them differently. Because of this, the anxious and the depressed are forced to create a sub-society in which to share their feelings, thoughts and experiences of overcoming their struggles, and these sub-cultures are often looked at as deviant.
For the older generation, mental issues are referred to as “phases.” Even after seeing me take medication and go through anxiety attacks, my father continued to insist that it was only a phase and that I would get over it.
That might be true, but what makes mental illness a serious issue is that it can be traumatizing and can cause long-term damage to the person’s life. Anxiety, for example, could lead to enough negativity in the individual’s life to wipe out every opportunity they are given. Their potential as a successful human being becomes eliminated due to the continuity of anxiety and its aftermaths. If the people that are around them the most do not recognize this as a serious problem, then how are they to change it?
Spreading the word
Leaflets should be spread around, and hospitals and psychological institutes should advertise themselves more openly, the same way awareness is spread regarding other illnesses. The entire internet was supportive of ALS, and breast cancer awareness events are attended by millions. Mental health issues should get the same kind of awareness campaigns and support, so that everyone is informed. Those kinds of efforts could cause extraordinary changes to happen within UAE society, because with no mental health and constant internal struggles, creativity and all workforces are put to slumber.
Ahmad Altamimi is from Dubai. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Media and Communications at the University of Sussex in England, and chasing his dream of making films all over the world.
