Mr. Psychiatrist – A friend or an Enemy?

Year 2005...

The word "psychology" is the combination of two terms - study (ology) and soul (psyche), or mind. Humanistic Psychology is a current manifestation of that ongoing commitment. Its message is a response to the aggression of the human spirit that has so often been implied in the image of the person drawn by behavioral and social sciences.

Every once in a while each one of us passes through different depression phases, however, depression is relative. For some, it might reach its extreme levels, where the advice of a mother, a brother or even a close friend will not help! While for some, depression lasts for a short while and they get over it easily without consulting anyone around. Thus, depression varies among different people with different backgrounds.

Youth, especially in their maturity stage, needs counsel from experienced people, as they get through different complex phases; mentally, physically, as well as emotionally. All of these changes have an indirect impact on the youth’s personality formation, development of their communication skills, way of thinking and analyzing life aspects. However, some youth grow up and still lack such qualities, which will make it harder for them to cope with frustration and depression. At some cases, youth tend to seek the help of a psychiatrist, which is healthy to overcome one’s problem; however, some might isolate themselves and stay struggling. The result of depression faced by youth, especially during their teenage phase, might make a definite impact on their psychological status ever after.

Concerning this issue, Dr. Mohammed Habashaneh- a professional Jordanian Psychiatrist- gave us his justification “The initial practical step is to find out the reasons behind the general avoidance behavior towards the idea of consulting psychiatrists. And it would be more helpful to correct the misconceptions around this issue in ‘parent’s mind’ more than directing our efforts sololely to young age group. Simply because how come the youngsters can refer themselves to psychiatrists while their models -their parents- are in refusal and denial of the whole idea. The classical misunderstanding of linking the psychiatry and psychiatric illnesses with “Madness” or “insanity” is very prominent in collective conscious of the Arab mind. The common behavioral and rotational manifestations of psychiatric disorder were interpreted by many of us wrongly by referring them to metaphysical phenomena such as magic, evil eye, gin and many others. In turn people seek religious healers (most of them are Jerks and professional manipulators) to solve their problems rather than consulting a true professional help.”

Mostly, people in our eastern culture, prefer not to consult a psychiatrist for different “convincing” reasons-as they pointed out. M.S-21 years old emphasized “I would definitely refer to a psychiatrist, but the thing that’s stopping me is what would people say behind my back! ‘Is he Crazy!?!’”. A 21 years old girl, R.S- stressed the point of not referring to a psychiatrist due to the fact of our culture perceptions; “Not in this culture. People will think that I’m insane. This is how it’s perceived! It’s a fact.” Unfortunately, people will go on and adapt the rules our culture sets concerning this issue, as there is no other way out of this reality! Consequently, this matter will never be resolved as people are not trying to fix it, but rather, they are encouraging it indirectly and spontaneously.

Taking the two different extremes of this case we’ll see that most people prefer not consulting a psychiatrist due to the misconceptions our culture has. An 18 years old girl pointed out- O.D “For sure I would consult a trusted psychiatrist, but I would rather keep it confidential. Not because am ashamed of what am doing, but because most of the people here have some mistaken believes about it!” On the other hand, some people would adopt a different mechanism in resolving their depression and problems. B.Z- 20 years old “I am conservative when it comes to my thoughts and feelings. I manage my depression by myself.” Some people, and specially youth, tend to take counsel from their best friends rather than their parents. A 22 years old guy – R.J highlighted a critical point “I don’t need the advice of a professional psychiatrist, however, I would talk my problem over with my closest friend; who happen to be a girl, as I feel more comfortable when I speak out my thoughts to her instead of my guy friends.”

Some people go with the flow of the cultural stream, regardless of what are that culture’s restrictions. They apply it automatically; to be accepted in that culture and a way of adaptation. For instance, if they were living in a western culture for half of the year, they would go on with the traditions of that culture, however, as soon as they get surrounded with an eastern culture during the other half of the same year, they will flip to the other face of the coin and act differently. A girl who conducts her studies abroad stated “I’ve sought the assistance of a psychiatrist once back where I study in England, but I would never do it here in our country, as the stereotyping of such an issue is a killer by itself!!!” This is an issue to be seriously considered-the double standards of people’s actions.

Dr. Habashaneh stated that “The major thing we have to work on is to provide our people with intensive scientific information and to educate them about the wide spectrum of mental health and psychiatric disorders. Still I’m not too optimistic of achieving a fast progress in this regard. It needs a lot of efforts and time to reach our goals. Furthermore, it should be a comprehensive and long term educational process. The teachers with directed teaching curriculums, the family, the media and the religious persons have to participate seriously and to take their responsibilities in stressing the importance of mental health and the great consequences and benefits that we can get by reaching there.”

In conclusion, people have different perspectives when it comes to the consultancy of a psychiatrist. They tend to be more conservative and protective. Moreover, the major concern is how the people around you would perceive such a thing, and the limit of tolerance our culture has. Accordingly, most people prefer to choose the smoothest path; which is to stay on what they are struggling with, hiding the bitter reality and not having the courage to face their problems. God Gifted different people with different talents, among these are the gift of comforting stressed and depressed people, and this is why professional psychiatrists are found.