International Journal of Mental Health, Dec 1, 1999
Egypt was created by the Nile, determined by the desert, and shaped by its people. To think of Eg... more Egypt was created by the Nile, determined by the desert, and shaped by its people. To think of Egypt is to summon up images of pyramids, temples, and tombs. The inner eye feasts on images of unparalleled artistry : the timeless diorite statue of Khafre, elegant wall paintings in the tomb of Nefertari, the funerary mask of Tutankhamun. Perhaps the palm-fringed Nile springs to mind, or the exquisite Islamic monuments of medieval Cairo, or even the overgrown mega city of today's Cairo. Yet Egypt is, before all else, desert. Were it not for the Nile, this immense territory in the east of the Sahara would be perhaps the hottest and driest wasteland in the world.
This chapter will discuss the historical and philosophical aspects of suicide in Islam. Influence... more This chapter will discuss the historical and philosophical aspects of suicide in Islam. Influences of Islamic culture on the phenomena of suicide and attempted suicide will be emphasized, focusing chiefly on attitudes in Egypt. All studies show that suicide is less prevalent in Islamic societies compared to countries associated with other religions. Here, the reasons for suicide in different Islamic and Arabic countries are evaluated in relation to the sociocultural context. The cognitive schemata of Muslims follow the phrases of the Koran that humans were created for the main reason of worshipping God, and that life and death issues should be controlled by God and not by self-destruction. This faith can be a factor in preventing suicide attempts, especially in those practising their religious rituals. The phenomenology of psychiatric disorders in Islamic culture is characterized and dominated in its content, whether hallucinations or delusions by religious themes.
Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that most prominently incorporates the humanities and social... more Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that most prominently incorporates the humanities and social sciences in its scientific base and in its treatment of illness. Psychiatry has often needed to go well beyond the world of natural science into the philosophical realm. Psychiatry and religion both draw upon rich traditions of human thought and practice. Mental health providers in developed countries are increasingly treating patients whose backgrounds are very different from their own, so it is important for them to understand cultural belief systems including religious thought and practice that relate to mental health and illness. Psychiatry and religion are parallel and complementary frames of reference for understanding and describing the human experience and human behaviour.
The inclusion of the diagnosis of “unexplained somatic symptoms” in the primary version of ICD-10... more The inclusion of the diagnosis of “unexplained somatic symptoms” in the primary version of ICD-10 and DSM-IV is a cornerstone in identifying somatization. The majority of our psychiatric patients (80%–90%) are not aware that their somatic symptoms can be secondary to a psychiatric disorder. Therefore their first encounter is usually either with primary care physicians or with traditional or religious healers depending on attributing factors. Religion plays an important role in symptom formation, attribution, and management of somatization disorders. In our culture physical symptoms are more socially accepted than are psychological ones, as psychological ones can be taken to indicate personal weakness or lack of faith. The pubic would accept, tolerate, and sympathize with suffering of somatic symptoms more than psychological complaints, which people tend to perceive more as under the control of the person’s will. In the countryside somatization is attributed to the wrath of God, possession of evil spirits, and magical doing. The treatment may vary from a pseudoreligious or traditional intervention, to cognitive or behavioral therapy, or psychotropic medication, the latter preferably by parenteral route. Our religious culture with its external locus of control, extended family, family care and concern of the elderly, disabled children, and the attribution of illness to God’s will and the solid belief in the determined fate, can color and affect somatization. There is, however, increasing evidence that somatization as such is not necessarily a culturally bound phenomenon. What may be unique for every country is its clinical image and the challenges it puts on the existing mental health care facilities. The later should be a prime area of input and concern, to the benefit of a considerable percentage of our psychiatric population.
The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of OCS among a community sample of Egyptian ... more The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of OCS among a community sample of Egyptian students. The sample was selected using a multistage stratified random sample of students from El Abasseya educational area in Cairo. The tools used in this study included the General Health Questionnaire for screening of psychiatric morbidity and the Arabic Obsessive Scale for obsessive traits. The Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was used to determine the profile of OCS and the ICD-10 research criteria for diagnosis of OCD among OCS positive subjects. The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among the total sample was 51.7%, whilst that of obsessive traits was 26.2% and that of obsessive compulsive symptoms was 43.1%. OCS were more prevalent among the younger students, among female students and first born subjects. Aggressive, contamination and religious obsessions and cleaning compulsions were the commonest among the sample; 19.6% of subjects with OCS fulfilled ICD-10 criteria for OCD.
International Journal of Mental Health, Dec 1, 1999
Egypt was created by the Nile, determined by the desert, and shaped by its people. To think of Eg... more Egypt was created by the Nile, determined by the desert, and shaped by its people. To think of Egypt is to summon up images of pyramids, temples, and tombs. The inner eye feasts on images of unparalleled artistry : the timeless diorite statue of Khafre, elegant wall paintings in the tomb of Nefertari, the funerary mask of Tutankhamun. Perhaps the palm-fringed Nile springs to mind, or the exquisite Islamic monuments of medieval Cairo, or even the overgrown mega city of today's Cairo. Yet Egypt is, before all else, desert. Were it not for the Nile, this immense territory in the east of the Sahara would be perhaps the hottest and driest wasteland in the world.
This chapter will discuss the historical and philosophical aspects of suicide in Islam. Influence... more This chapter will discuss the historical and philosophical aspects of suicide in Islam. Influences of Islamic culture on the phenomena of suicide and attempted suicide will be emphasized, focusing chiefly on attitudes in Egypt. All studies show that suicide is less prevalent in Islamic societies compared to countries associated with other religions. Here, the reasons for suicide in different Islamic and Arabic countries are evaluated in relation to the sociocultural context. The cognitive schemata of Muslims follow the phrases of the Koran that humans were created for the main reason of worshipping God, and that life and death issues should be controlled by God and not by self-destruction. This faith can be a factor in preventing suicide attempts, especially in those practising their religious rituals. The phenomenology of psychiatric disorders in Islamic culture is characterized and dominated in its content, whether hallucinations or delusions by religious themes.
Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that most prominently incorporates the humanities and social... more Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that most prominently incorporates the humanities and social sciences in its scientific base and in its treatment of illness. Psychiatry has often needed to go well beyond the world of natural science into the philosophical realm. Psychiatry and religion both draw upon rich traditions of human thought and practice. Mental health providers in developed countries are increasingly treating patients whose backgrounds are very different from their own, so it is important for them to understand cultural belief systems including religious thought and practice that relate to mental health and illness. Psychiatry and religion are parallel and complementary frames of reference for understanding and describing the human experience and human behaviour.
The inclusion of the diagnosis of “unexplained somatic symptoms” in the primary version of ICD-10... more The inclusion of the diagnosis of “unexplained somatic symptoms” in the primary version of ICD-10 and DSM-IV is a cornerstone in identifying somatization. The majority of our psychiatric patients (80%–90%) are not aware that their somatic symptoms can be secondary to a psychiatric disorder. Therefore their first encounter is usually either with primary care physicians or with traditional or religious healers depending on attributing factors. Religion plays an important role in symptom formation, attribution, and management of somatization disorders. In our culture physical symptoms are more socially accepted than are psychological ones, as psychological ones can be taken to indicate personal weakness or lack of faith. The pubic would accept, tolerate, and sympathize with suffering of somatic symptoms more than psychological complaints, which people tend to perceive more as under the control of the person’s will. In the countryside somatization is attributed to the wrath of God, possession of evil spirits, and magical doing. The treatment may vary from a pseudoreligious or traditional intervention, to cognitive or behavioral therapy, or psychotropic medication, the latter preferably by parenteral route. Our religious culture with its external locus of control, extended family, family care and concern of the elderly, disabled children, and the attribution of illness to God’s will and the solid belief in the determined fate, can color and affect somatization. There is, however, increasing evidence that somatization as such is not necessarily a culturally bound phenomenon. What may be unique for every country is its clinical image and the challenges it puts on the existing mental health care facilities. The later should be a prime area of input and concern, to the benefit of a considerable percentage of our psychiatric population.
The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of OCS among a community sample of Egyptian ... more The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of OCS among a community sample of Egyptian students. The sample was selected using a multistage stratified random sample of students from El Abasseya educational area in Cairo. The tools used in this study included the General Health Questionnaire for screening of psychiatric morbidity and the Arabic Obsessive Scale for obsessive traits. The Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was used to determine the profile of OCS and the ICD-10 research criteria for diagnosis of OCD among OCS positive subjects. The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among the total sample was 51.7%, whilst that of obsessive traits was 26.2% and that of obsessive compulsive symptoms was 43.1%. OCS were more prevalent among the younger students, among female students and first born subjects. Aggressive, contamination and religious obsessions and cleaning compulsions were the commonest among the sample; 19.6% of subjects with OCS fulfilled ICD-10 criteria for OCD.
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