Campaign urges ‘Empathy-in-Action’ for People With Mental Disorders

BY JEHAD RAJAB

 

Abdallah Gad, a political science senior, recently launched a Facebook campaign aimed at raising awareness about mental disorders and how people with such diagnoses conduct their lives.

The Call for Empathy-in-Action campaign is also seeking to remove the shame and social stigma some may associate with mental disorders.

“We, as mentally ill, don’t need sympathy, we need empathy,” said Gad who himself suffers from bipolar disorder.

To illustrate the extreme mood swings bipolar people suffer, Gad posted a picture on the campaign page of himself during extreme euphoria and severe depression.

“The reason I chose to share my mental illness publicly on Facebook is my passion for mental health advocacy and to fight mental illness stigma in Egypt,” Gad said.

Gad said that the community at large usually perceives people with mental disorders as “insane”.

He added that they are not given the same care and treatment provided to people with physical disabilities

“There is a stigma for sure. I wish there wasn’t, but definitely there is,” says Ann Justus, a Psychology Associate Professor of Practice.

“I think this happens in elderly populations and in populations that do not have as much access to [the] media,” Justus, who is also the founder of the new psychology facility for faculty and students, added.

Gad has also used the Facebook page as a platform to criticize the treatment people with mental disorders receive in hospitals.

He drew on his own experiences while hospitalized in Egypt and abroad, and compared the two.

He says that the facilities and services in Egypt are humiliating and inhumane. Gad said that doctors and nurses also practice the social stigma of categorizing people with mental illness as “insane”.

“Even some doctors are not ethical at all in the sense that they might give you Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) without your consent and they would tell you, ‘You have an injection today’ and it really is only the anesthetic for having an ECT session,” Gad said.

Gad’s social media awareness campaign and criticism of the state of healthcare for the mentally ill in Egypt appears to be paying dividends as it attracts the attention of students and other people suffering from mental disorders, and provides a forum to share experiences.

Ibrahim Gamal-El-Deen, a political science senior who has General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), posted his picture to the site with a caption explaining what his illness is and how it affects him.

Gamal-El-Deen said: “In Egypt, it’s a disgrace to even entertain the thought of having a mental disorder.

“A considerable percentage of the mentally ill’s problem with living is how cultural and social inheritances create an image for people like them,” he added.

Gamal-El-Deen laments Egypt’s lack of definitive laws to determine the rights of mentally ill people to protect them against abuse of personal and professional rights, discrimination and alienation from hierarchies.

Justus says that although there are qualified facilities and practitioners in Egypt for mentally ill patients, one is less likely to find them outside of Cairo and Alexandria.

She also stressed that social environments and familial support are huge determinants in a patient’s decision to seek professional help.

Justus said that AUC provides efficient psychological facilities for students in the Counseling Center.

Faculty and staff with mental disorders are also supported by the new center in the psychology department.

“I think more people are taking advantage of the possibility of doing therapy on campus,” Justus said.

“I have been in AUC since 2007 and since then I think the perception has improved,” she added.

Both Gad and Gamal-El-Deen agree that AUC provides a better environment than most places in Egypt.

They added that the counseling center provides students with a lot of help while professors are understanding and give them full support.

Gad believes that the Facebook page is a good start to educate people about mental disorders, but thinks there is still a lot more work to be done.

“It [Facebook page] stimulated the community and led to people connecting based on common disorders they have and led to discussions between doctors and patients on how to fight stigma in Egypt,” said Gad.

Gad is hopeful that the social stigma against mental illness can be changed but massive effort and timeless commitment will be needed.