Psychiatry is an area of medicine that is both mysterious and challenging because of the sheer number of ambiguities in it. The field encompasses a wide range of disorders, some of which were explored at the 5th International Psychiatry Conference titled “Challenges in the Outcome of Psychiatric Disorders”, held at the InterContinental hotel in Jeddah from Apr. 28 to Apr. 30. Mental disorders are becoming more widespread - and of multi-faceted causation - associated with both increasing mortality and economic cost, so the conference was well-timed. The seminar was organized by the Saudi German hospital (SGH) in collaboration with Al-Amal Hospital, Saudi Psychiatry Association, World Psychiatric Association, Arab Federation of Psychiatrists, and British Arab Psychiatric Association, amongst others. “This conference is a wonderful opportunity for Arab expertise within the Arab world and (from) across the globe to exchange experiences and plan for future collaborative activities,” said Dr. Mohamed Khaled, Consultant and Head of Psychiatric Department at SGH. “With the help of such symposiums, there is hope to study various outcomes of psychiatry research, its developments and share updates on its various study,” added Professor Mahdi Abu Madini, President of the Saudi Psychiatric Association, during the introduction. The wider implications The seminar began with a presentation on “Multi-modal Cultural Perspective on Mental Health practice in Arabian cultures”, a topic that proved to be highly enlightening. The presentation dealt with the myth of uniformity and the trap of treating psychiatric disorders in the same way. “It is about how best to work on problems concerning the segments of populations and working on them locally,” stated Professor Abdel-Sattar Ibrahim, Professor of Psychology of the American University of Cairo. The presentation also covered the importance of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with positive reinforcement. The presentation focused on how patients could use a destructive scale to evaluate themselves. Their negative scale would include self labeling, overgeneralization and the selection of negative aspects. “This needs to be replaced with a steady and continual use of positive vocabulary,” concluded Abdel-Sattar in his presentation. “Keeping Professional Boundaries: Can we learn from psychiatrists' experience and views?” was a presentation that focused on the intimate relationship that can develop between healthcare professionals and their patients. “This issue is important, as a deviation/violation of the ethical rule does occur,” said Dr. Mamdouh El-Adl, Consultant in general adult psychiatry from the United Kingdom. “It has to be acknowledged because not having such violations promotes good medical practices and ethics.” Such issues have come under scrutiny and are invoking heated debates according to the UK's General Medical Council. Dealing with serious issues Dr. Ehab Ali Sorketti's presentation focused on important problems within psychiatry itself. His work in “Challenges and Outcome in Para-Suicide Management” helped him understand suicide in great detail. The phenomenon of self harm includes cutting oneself, ingesting poisons, medication or household cleaning products high in strong chemicals. “If we can understand the motives behind such actions or psycho-social stress factors, then we can prepare, plan and work on preventive methods,” elaborated Dr. Sorketti. The presentation emphasized factors like desperation, punishment, the need for attention, as well as the need to scare others as leading patients to develop suicidal instincts. “When there is no way to cope with a detrimental situation or the patient feels trapped, they turn to self harm,” explained Dr. Sorketti. “It is important to note that if they have done it before they will do it again.” Preventive methods include open communication, recognizing sources of help, providing alternative methods of problem solving and heightening awareness in educational institutions and through the media. Religion and psychiatry A hugely debatable and interesting presentation “Religion at Work in Clinics: Can Religion be employed in clinical practices?” was presented by Dr. Mehmet Atalay, Assistant Professor of Psychology of Religion at Istanbul University. He spoke about the necessary role of religion and the extent of its influence in psychological cases. Dr. Atalay also emphasized the need for religion to be used in practices to provide answers to bigger questions. “Religion constitutes forms. It is consistent whereas science deals with particulars. They need to go together to form a bigger entity and should not be isolated from each other,” he elaborated. According to him, religion embodies faith, rituals and Ihsan (perfect worship) and these three aspects should be put together to better understand the role of religion in our everyday and professional lives. “Religion can be used in dealing with traumatic situations as it can help provide psychological resilience. It helps provide one with the power of knowledge and help in analyzing situations both from religious and psychological perspectives,” he explained. Recent issues The next set of presentations addressed the recent most urgent topics in psychiatry. Professor Adnan Takriti – a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists – presented a seminar called “Family Violence and Psychiatric Disorders”, focusing on the growing number of wife-abuse cases, as well as an alarming upward trend in husband-abuse cases. “Such issues should be addressed and collaborative efforts (should) be made by hospitals, clinics, private practices as well as shelters,” he said. “The factors associated with violence, such as those of stressful lifestyle, illness, and childhood trauma need to be addressed at the first signs in order to prevent them from becoming worse later.” Dr. Ahmed Hafez is known for his eye opening presentations and this time he brought up the topic of “Outcome of Early Marriages: Psychological Perspectives”, speaking about factors that lead to early marriages such as poverty, and the need to protect a girl's virginity. He also related the risks of early marriages such as domestic violence, widowhood, the likelihood of having a lot of children, pregnancy-related deaths and so on. “Girls have the right to freedom and giving their full consent to marriage,” he stressed. “Marriage is not just about biology - it involves so much more.” Dr. Khaled concluded the seminar with the hope that such conferences would benefit the people in the region.
