World Mental Health Day: Why the Middle East Has Some of the World's Highest Anxiety and Depression Rates

On World Mental Health Day, Sarah El Nabulsi joins MBC1's Fi Osbou3a to explain the WHO's definition of mental health — not necessarily the absence of distress, but the ability to cope with daily challenges and function toward one's goals. She discusses why the Middle East and North Africa carry a disproportionately high burden of anxiety and depression compared to the rest of the world, and connects this directly to productivity. She also addresses the cultural taboo around seeking mental health support, and makes the case for seeking help at the first signs of distress. Note: the page header above this entry is dated "Dec 18, 2021" ("MBC1 — FI OSBOU3A ( في أسبوع MBC) -Dec 18, 2021") though the entry itself is headlined and dated Oct 11, 2019 — an apparent labelling artifact on the live page, carried over verbatim rather than corrected.