Geriatric Mental Health in Saudi Arabia
摘要
Geriatric mental health illustrates the biological and psychological aspects of normal aging. It is usually underestimated, due to lack of awareness about the sign and symptoms of mental illness and a dismissive belief that affected mental health is due to normal part of the aging process. In Saudi Arabian culture, supernatural belief for mental illness is usually prevalent; that’s why many cultural, religious, and social aspects influence the practice of geriatric mental health. Due to ignored health care system, frequently the elderly patients usually rely on family members or community-based social support. The belief in demon (jinn), the evil eye (hasad), and magic (seher) are predominant in this culture. Also there is no sub-specialty in geriatric mental health. This chapter explains how the supernatural belief affects geriatric mental health at Saudi Arabia.