Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Terrorism major theme at the International Conference for Psychiatry in Jeddah. | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Asharq Al-Awsat

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia- The first International Conference for Psychiatry was Held last week in Jeddah under the banner ”New Horizons in Psychiatry”.

The most popular lecture was delivered by Professor Afaf Hamid who discussed how to deal with terrorism. She told Asharq Al Awsat, &#34We are now encountering a new wave of incidents which despite their suddenness have a long term impact upon the human mind. Those who have been directly affected by terrorist acts, despite their age, should be psychologically analyzed before they undergo chronic psychological illnesses.&#34 She continued by arguing that, &#34their state may deteriorate and victims may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The perpetrators of suicidal terrorist operations undergo psychological disorders therefore; it is easy to influence their ideas and actions. Their childhood is usually the first stage in which their aggressive acts develop as a result of domestic violence or family disintegration to the extent that they can be brain washed by those who plot terrorist acts. Furthermore, we have not carried out psychological tests on the instigators themselves and I hope that officials all over the world will allow us to conduct interviews with them in order to understand the reasons behind their actions and what their psychological state really is.&#34

Apart from the conference, two workshops were organized for all employees in the sector of psychiatry and a special seminar was convened for psychiatrists to meet other experts. The Saudi Institute decided that a number of fifteen credits would be approved for health specializations in the continuous education medical program.

The subject of the first workshop was ”Methods to prevent addiction” and the second workshop theme was ”General Psychotherapy”. The last session of the conference held in the Hilton hotel was a lecture entitled ”Schizophrenia” given by Dr. Ahmed Akasha, president of International Assembly of Psychiatry from the University of Kent in England.