文档介绍：Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 19, No. 8, pp. 917–933, 1999
Copyright © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd
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PII S0272-7358(99)00003-3
MENTAL HEALTH IN THE MIDDLE EAST:
AN EGYPTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ahmed Okasha
Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
ABSTRACT. This article introduces the reader to mental health in the Middle East with an
Egyptian perspective, from the Pharaonic era through the Islamic Renaissance, up until the cur-
rent state. During Pharaonic times, mental illness was not known as such, as there was no sepa-
rator between Soma and Psyche. Actually, mental disorders were described as symptoms of the
heart and uterine diseases, as stated in Eber’s and Kahoun’s papyri. In spite of the mystical cul-
ture, mental disorders were attributed and treated on a somatic basis. In the Islamic era, mental
patients were never subjected to any torture or maltreatment because of the inherited belief that
they may be possessed by a good Moslem genie. The first mental hospital in Europe was located in
Spain, following the Arab invasion, and from then on it propagated to other European countries.
The 14th century Kalawoon Hospital in Cairo had four departments, including medicine, sur-
gery, ophthalmology, and mental disorders. Six centuries earlier, psychiatry in general hospitals
was recognized in Europe. The influence of Avicenna and Elrazi and their contributions to Euro-
pean medicine is well-known. This article discusses further the current state of the mental health
services in Egypt and the transcultural studies of the prevalence and phenomenology of anxiety,
schizophrenia, depression, suicide, conversion, and pulsive disorders. An outline of
psychiatric disorders in children is discussed. The problem of drug abuse is also addressed, espe-
cially that in Egypt after 1983, where drugs like heroine replaced mon habit of
hashish. © 1999 Elsevier Scienc