Question 1. Based on the given article what are different mental health problems prominent in the KSA?
The main health problems associated with the KSA population are substance abuse, the effect of the job on dementia caregivers, domestic violence, and suicidality.
Substance abuse is a prevalent issue in KSA. The most affected demographic is the youth aged between 15-29 who engage in different aspects, although adults up to 60 have been affected by the vice.
Dementia affects two groups. The first group is the patients with the condition, and the second is the caregivers, made up of 79% women, whose social life takes a hit through taking care of them. The mental toll of the job makes the caregivers take out their frustrations on their patients.
An understated issue is domestic violence. Women are the primary victims of the attacks since they suffer physical, emotional, and sexual violence from men, severely impacting their lives. Four out of ten women have been abused in one form or another in the KSA.
The other aspect is suicidality caused by depressive and anxiety disorders among the individuals it affects. The UN report highlighted in the article puts the suicide rate at 3.4 per 100,000 people in 2016. The rate was up from 0.4 per 100,000 people in 2012.
Question 2. Which of the mental health problem you think is most serious and alarming for the population of KSA?
The most severe issue is substance abuse, in my opinion. Opioids (0.06%), cannabis (0,3%), and amphetamine (0.4%) are the most commonly abused drugs by adults and young people aged 15-60 years. A good number of the KSA population is very dependent on these hard drugs. Data shows that people take amphetamines ranging from 4-70.7%, with heroin at 6.6-83.6%, alcohol at 9-70.3%, and cannabis at 1-60%. The majority of the population between these ages use the drugs recreationally, meaning they could engage in lengthy sessions intaking these drugs. Most people who take these hard drugs also do not understand how they affect them until too late. In the case of alcohol especially, addicts tend to be in denial about their addiction, leading to harsh consequences in their later lives. The youth are especially invested in hard drugs, leading to other vices such as crime when they abuse them excessively.
