Silent epidemic of depression in women in the middle east and north africa region emerging tribulation or fallacy?

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Volumn 9, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 5-15

  Eloul, Liyam ^a   Ambusaidi, Aamal ^b   Al Adawi, Samir ^a  

^a SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY   (Oman)

^b SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL   (Oman)

Author keywords

Depression in women; Gender issue; Islam; Middle East and North Africa; Review

Indexed keywords

EID: 84875023193     PISSN: 2075051X     EISSN: 20750528     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (84)

1. Constitution of the World Health Organization. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1948.
2. Stonington S, Holmes SM. Social Medicine in the Twenty-First Century. PLoS Med 2006; 3:1661-2.
3. Prince M, Patel V, Saxena S, Maj M, Maselko J, Phillips MR, et al. No health without mental health. Lancet 2007; 370:859-77.
4. Ebmeier KP, Donaghey C, Steele JD. Recent developments and current controversies in depression. Lancet 2006; 367:153-67.
5. Moussavi S, Chatterji S, Verdes E, Tandon A, Patel V, Ustun B. Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: results from the World Health Surveys. Lancet 2007; 370:851-8.
6. Murray CJ. Rethinking DALYs. In: Murray CJ, Lopez AD, Eds. The global burden of disease. Geneva: World Health Organization, Harvard School of Public Health, World Bank, 1996.
7. Douki S, Zineb SB, Nacef, F, Halbreich U. Women’s mental health in the Muslim world: cultural, religious, and social issues. J Affect Disord 2007; 102:177-89.
8. Nikelly AG. Does DSM-III-R diagnose depression in non-Western patients? Int J Soc Psychiatry 1988; 34:316-20.
9. Chesler P. Women and Madness. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
10. Al-Issa I. Culture and Mental Illness in Algeria. Int J Soc Psychiatry 1990; 36:230-40.
11. Winslow WW, Honein G. Bridges and Barriers to Health: Her Story--Emirati Women’s Health Needs. Health Care Women Int 2007; 28:285-308.
12. Moghadam VM. Patriarchy in Transition: Women and the Changing Family in the Middle East. In: Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003. pp.137-63.
13. Laird LD, de Marrais J, Barnes LL. Portraying Islam and Muslims in MEDLINE: a content analysis. Soc Sci Med 2007; 65:2425-39.
14. Trivedi JK, Mishra M, Kendurkar A. Depression among women in the South-Asian region: The underlying issues. J Affect Disord 2007; 102:219-25.
15. AbuMadini MS, Rahim SI. Psychiatric admission in a general hospital. Patients profile and patterns of service utilization over a decade. Saudi Med J 2002; 23:44-50.
16. Schwartz S. Women and depression: a Durkheimian perspective. Soc Sci Med 1991; 32:127-40.
17. Seeman MV. Psychopathology in women and men: Focus on female hormones. Am J Psychiatry 1997;154:1641-7.
18. Kaminsky Z, Wang SC, Petronis A. Complex disease, gender and epigenetics. Ann Med 2006; 38:530-44.
19. Mabry R, Al-Riyami A, Morsi M. The prevalence of and risk factors for reproductive morbidities among women in Oman. Stud Fam Plann 2007; 38:121-8.
20. Daradkeh TK, Ghubash R, Abou-Saleh MT. Al Ain community survey of psychiatric morbidity II. Sex differences in the prevalence of depressive disorders. J Affect Disord 2002; 72:167-76.
21. Alansari BM. Gender differences in depression among undergraduates from seventeen Islamic countries. Soc Behav Pers 2006; 34:729-38.
22. El-Rufaie OE, Albar AA, Al-Dabal BK. Identifying anxiety and depressive disorders among primary care patients: a pilot study. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1988; 77:280-2.
23. Fido A, Zahid MA. Coping with infertility among Kuwaiti women: Cultural perspectives. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2004; 50:294-300.
24. Modabernia MJ, Tehrani HS, Fallahi M, Shirazi M, Mo-dabbernia AH. Prevalence of depressive disorders in Rasht, Iran: A community based study. Clin Pract Epidemol Ment Health 2008, 4:20.
25. El-Akabawi AS, Fekri I. Anxiety and depressive disorder among users of general practice clinic in an industrial community in Cairo. Egypt J Psychiatry 1983; 8:107-15.
26. Ghubash R, Hamdi E, Bebbington P. The Dubai community psychiatric survey III. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 1994; 24121-31.
27. Afifi M, Al Riyami A, Morsi M, Al Kharusil H. Depressive symptoms among high school adolescents in Oman. East Mediterr Health J 2006; 12:S126-37.
28. Okasha A, Kamel M, Sadek A, Lotaif ZB. Psychiatric morbidity among university students in Egypt. Br J Psychiatry 1977;131:149-54.
29. Karam EG. The nosological status of bereavement-rela-ted depression. Br J Psychiatry 1994;165:48-52.
30. Weissman MM, Wickramaratne P, Greenwald S, Hsu H, Ouellette R, Robins LN, et al. The changing rate of major depression. Cross-national comparisons. JAMA 1992; 268:3098-105.
31. Al-Lamky A. Feminizing leadership in Arab societies: the perspectives of Omani female leaders. Women in Management Review 2007; 22:49-67.
32. Mazawi AE. Besieging the King’s Tower? En/gende-ring academic opportunities in the Gulf Arab states. In: Brock C, Levers LZ, Eds. Aspects of education in the Middle East and North Africa. Oxford: Symposium Books, 2007. pp. 77-97.
33. World Bank. Gender and development in the Middle East and North Africa: Women in the Public Sphere. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003.
34. Mirza I, Jenkins R. Risk factors, prevalence, and treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders in Pakistan: A systematic review. Br Med J 2004; 328:794-7.
35. Khayata GM, Rizk DE, Hasan MY, Ghazal-Aswad S, Asaad MA. Factors influencing the quality of life of infertile women in United Arab Emirates. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2003; 80:183-8.
36. World Health Organization. Women’s Mental Health: An Evidence Based-Review, Geneva: WHO, 2000.
37. Hamid H, Abu-Hijleh NS, Sharif SL, Raqab MZ, Mas’ad D, Abbas A. A primary care study of the correlates of depressive symptoms among Jordanian women. Transcult Psychiatry 2004; 41:487-96.
38. Yousef M. Development, growth and policy reform in the Middle East and North Africa since 1950. J Econ Perspect 2004;18:91-116.
39. El-Sendiony MF, Abou-El-Azaem MG, Luza F. Culture change and mental illness. Int J Soc Psychiatry 1977; 23:20-5.
40. Ibrahim AS, Alnafie A. Perception of and concern about sociocultural change and general psychopathology in Saudi Arabian university students. J Soc Psychol 1991; 131:179-86.
41. Ibn Khaldūn. The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history. Rosenthal F,Transl; Dawood NJ, Ed. Princeton and Oxford: Bollingen Series, Princeton University Press, 2005.
42. Al-Ghanim KA. The Increase of Fertility and its Influence on Development Procedures: Analysis of the Arab Women Case. J Soc Sci 2004; 32:297-325.
43. Orji EO, Kuti O, Fasubaa OB. Impact of infertility on marital life in Nigeria. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2002; 79:61-2.
44. Kadri N, Moussaoui D. Women’s mental health in the Arab world. In: Okasha A, Maj M, Eds. Images in Psychiatry: An Arab Perspective, Cairo: WPA Publications, 2001. pp. 189-206.
45. Al-Rawahi S. Birth spacing initiative in Oman. J Cult Divers 2002; 9:23-6.
46. Green K, Broome H. Mirabella Postnatal depression among mothers in the United Arab Emirates: socio-cul-tural and physical factors. J Psychol Health Med 2006; 11:425-31.
47. Ghubash R, Abou-Saleh MT. Postpartum psychiatric illness in Arab culture: Prevalence and psychosocial correlates. Br J Psychiatry 1997;170:65-8.
48. Masmoudi J, Tabelsi S, Charfeddine F, Ben Ayed B, Guermazzi M, Jaoua A. Study of the prevalence of postpartum depression among 213 Tunisian parturients. Gynecol Obstet Fertil 2008; 36:782-7.
49. Chaaya M, Campbell OM, El Kak F, Shaar D, Harb H, Kaddour A. Postpartum depression: prevalence and determinants in Lebanon. Arch Womens Ment Health 2002; 5:65-72.
50. Cooper PJ, Murray L. Postnatal depression. Br Med J 1998; 316:1884-6.
51. Stuchbery M, Matthey S, Barnett B. Postnatal depression and social supports in Vietnamese, Arabic and An-glo-Celtic mothers. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 1998; 33:483-90.
52. Abou-Saleh MT, Ghubash R. The prevalence of early postpartum psychiatric morbidity in Dubai: a transcultural perspective. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1997; 95:428-32.
53. Danaci AE, Dinç G, Deveci A, Sen FS, Içelli, I. Postnatal depression in Turkey: Epidemiological and cultural aspects. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2002; 37:125-9.
54. Nahas V, Amashen N. Culture care meanings and experiences of postpartum depression among Jordanian Australian women: A transcultural study. J Transcult Nurs 1999; 10:37-45.
55. Appleby L, Luchins DJ, Freels S, Smith ME, Wasmer D. The impact of immigration on psychiatric hospitalization in Illinois from 1993 to 2003. Psychiatr Serv 2008; 59:648-54.
56. Momartin S, Steel Z, Coello M, Aroche J, Silove DM, Brooks R. A comparison of the mental health of refugees with temporary versus permanent protection visas. Med J Aust 2006; 185:357-61.
57. Good B. Culture and Psychopathology: Directions for Psychiatric Anthropology. In: Schwartz T, White G, Lutz C, Eds. New Directions in Psychological Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. pp. 181-205.
58. Jumaian A, Alhmoud N, Al-Shunnaq S, Al-Radwan S. Comparing views of medical employees and lay people towards stigma in mental health issues. Jordan Med J 2004; 38: 80-3.
59. Fonte J, Horton-Deutsch S. Treating Postpartum Depression in Immigrant Muslim Women. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc 2005; 11:39-44.
60. Padela AI, Shanawani H, Greenlaw J, Hamid H, Aktas M, Chin N. The perceived role of Islam in immigrant Muslim medical practice within the USA: an exploratory qualitative study. J Med Ethics 2008; 34:365-9.
61. Hourani A. A History of the Arab Peoples. London: Faber and Faber, 2005.
62. Kleinman A, Cohen A. Psychiatry’s global challenge. Sci Am 1997; 276:74-7.
63. Holliday A. A general view of the present state of lunatics and lunatic asylums in Great Britain, Ireland and in some other Kingdoms. London: Thomas & George Underworld, 1828.
64. Maudsley H. The Physiology and Pathology of Mind. New York: Appleton, 1867.
65. Kleinman A. Depression, somatization and the new cross-cultural psychiatry. Soc Sci Med 1977; 11:3-10.
66. Nasir LS, Al-Qutob R. Barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of depression in Jordan. A nationwide qualitative study. J Am Board Fam Pract 2005; 18:125-3.
67. Al-Sinawi H, Al-Adawi S. Psychiatry in the Sultanate of Oman. Int Psychiatry 2006; 3:14-16.
68. Al-Adawi S, Dorvlo AS, Al-Naamani A, Glenn MB, Karamouz N, Chae H, et al. The ineffectiveness of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for diagnosis in an Omani traumatic brain injured population. Brain Inj 2007; 21:385-93.
69. Groenwold RH, Van Deursen AM, Hoes AW, Hak E. Poor quality of reporting confounding bias in observational intervention studies: a systematic review. Ann Epidemiol 2008; 18:746-51.
70. Coker EM. Selfhood and social distance: toward a cultural understanding of psychiatric stigma in Egypt. Soc Sci Med 2005; 61:920-30.
71. Maziak W, Asfar T, Mzayek F, Fouad F, Kilzieh N. Sociodemographic correlates of psychiatric morbidity among low-income women in Aleppo, Syria. Soc Sci Med 2002; 54:1419-27.
72. El-Sayed SM, Maghraby MM, Hafeiz HB, Buckley MM. Psychiatric diagnostic categories in Saudi Arabia. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1986; 74:553-4.
73. Al-Krenawi A. Women of polygamous marriages in primary health care centers. Contemp Fam Ther 1999; 21:417-30.
74. Al-Adawi S, Martin R G, Al-Salmi A, Ghassani H. Ment Health Relig & Cult 2001; 4: 47-61.
75. Al Lawati J, Al Lawati N, Al Siddiqui M, Antony SX, Al Naamani A, Martin RG, et al. Psychological morbidity in primary healthcare in Oman: A preliminary study. SQU J Sci Res: Med Sci 2000; 2:105-10.
76. Bazzoui W. Affective disorders in Iraq. Br J Psychiatry 1970; 117:195-203.
77. Bensmail AB, Bentorki H, Touari M. Depression in Algeria: Cultural aspects and epidemiological evolution. Psychopathologie Africaine 1981: 17:143-53.
78. Hamdi E, Amin Y, Abou-Saleh MT. Performance of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in depressed patients in the United Arab Emirates. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1997; 96:416-23.
79. Murray CJL, Lopez AD. The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Global Burden of Disease and Injury Series,. 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard School of Public Health on behalf of the World Health Organization and the World Bank, 1996.
80. Al-Adawi S, Burjorjee RN, Al-Issa I. Mu Ghayeb: A cul-ture-specific response to bereavement in Oman. Int J Soc Psychiatry 1997; 43:144-51.
81. Alansari BM, Kazem AM. Optimism and pessimism in Kuwaiti and Omani undergraduates. Soc Behav Pers 2008; 36:503-18.
82. Chand SP, Al Hussaini AA, Martin R, Mustapha S, Za-idan Z, Viernes N, et al. Dissociative disorders in the Sultanate of Oman. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2000; 102:185-7.
83. Al-Adawi S, Dorvlo ASS, Burke D, Al-Bahlani S, Martin RG, Al-Ismaily S. Presence and severity of anorexia and bulimia among male and female Omani and non-Omani adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2002; 41:1124-31.
84. Al-Hinai SS, Al-Saidy O, Dorvlo ASS, Al-Riyami BMS, Bhargava K, Northway MG, et al. Culture and prevalence of social phobia in a college population in Oman. In: Landow MV, Ed. College Students: Mental Health and Coping Strategies. Hauppauge, NewYork: Nova Science Publishers, 2006. pp.2-19.