Sunday, August 1, 2010

Fear and anxiety about job security and financial woes is putting people at risk of developing mental health disorders according to top psychologists in the UAE.

Doctors met in Dubai yesterday to discuss how to improve the treatment of patients suffering from mental illness, which experts believe is on the rise as a result of the recession.

Harvard Medical School’s Dr Ajay Singh, who spoke at the conference, told 7DAYS: “Fear and anxiety are topics for discussion because they are common in mental health problems. Economic pressures and the current climate are definitely having an impact on mental health in the UAE.

“People who suffer from reactive depression can find that pressures of work or concerns over job security and their future can have an impact. The economic situation is bringing mental health into focus which is one of the reasons for the conference,” he added.

Singh said there are no complete figures for the number of people in the UAE suffering from mental health problems but the conference looked at ways to develop research projects to remedy this.

Dubai counsellor Helen Williams says she has hundreds of people on her books suffering from a range of fear and anxiety problems as well as depression. She believes in many cases a patient’s issues stem from a lack of self-esteem.

Williams said the recession has not directly led to an increase in people suffering from mental health problems but may have been a catalyst for some issues to manifest themselves.