Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview

Adel F Almutairi Population Health Research Section, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaWhile I was reading on this topic, I came across an online articl...

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Main Author: Almutairi AF
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Dove Medical Press 2015-01-01
Series:Psychology Research and Behavior Management
Online Access:http://www.dovepress.com/mental-illness-in-saudi-arabia-an-overview-peer-reviewed-article-PRBM
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author Almutairi AF
author_facet Almutairi AF
author_sort Almutairi AF
collection DOAJ
description Adel F Almutairi Population Health Research Section, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaWhile I was reading on this topic, I came across an online article attributed to a Saudi psychologist that contained information about mental illness among the Saudi population. What really struck me right away was the estimate that was given for the number of mentally ill people in the country. It was claimed that about half of the Saudi population is suffering from mental illness.1 This made me wonder on what grounds the psychologist was basing the claim and how she came up with this scary statistic. If the figure was based on an empirical study, what was the sample size and how robust was the research? Unfortunately, no details were given to answer these questions. Nevertheless, such an alarming figure was the main impetus and driving force for me to write this article and provide readers with an overview of the magnitude of mental illness in the world, and more specifically, in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, based on recent literature. This article also provides perspectives of scientists working at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, on how we intend to tackle this issue.  
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spelling doaj.art-93aaadaea4a042209cfe2dff15ee4fa12022-12-22T01:44:27ZengDove Medical PressPsychology Research and Behavior Management1179-15782015-01-012015default474920238Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overviewAlmutairi AFAdel F Almutairi Population Health Research Section, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaWhile I was reading on this topic, I came across an online article attributed to a Saudi psychologist that contained information about mental illness among the Saudi population. What really struck me right away was the estimate that was given for the number of mentally ill people in the country. It was claimed that about half of the Saudi population is suffering from mental illness.1 This made me wonder on what grounds the psychologist was basing the claim and how she came up with this scary statistic. If the figure was based on an empirical study, what was the sample size and how robust was the research? Unfortunately, no details were given to answer these questions. Nevertheless, such an alarming figure was the main impetus and driving force for me to write this article and provide readers with an overview of the magnitude of mental illness in the world, and more specifically, in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, based on recent literature. This article also provides perspectives of scientists working at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, on how we intend to tackle this issue.  http://www.dovepress.com/mental-illness-in-saudi-arabia-an-overview-peer-reviewed-article-PRBM
spellingShingle Almutairi AF
Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview
Psychology Research and Behavior Management
title Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview
title_full Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview
title_fullStr Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview
title_full_unstemmed Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview
title_short Mental illness in Saudi Arabia: an overview
title_sort mental illness in saudi arabia an overview
url http://www.dovepress.com/mental-illness-in-saudi-arabia-an-overview-peer-reviewed-article-PRBM
work_keys_str_mv AT almutairiaf mentalillnessinsaudiarabiaanoverview