author - oman observer

Mr A is not technically my patient but the son of a neighbour, so when he asked to talk to me, I was more than happy to help. He told me that he was contemplating marriage and had met with a young...

In my clinic, it has become routine for patients to tell me they consulted a chatbot before coming to see me, while some say they have been receiving therapy from one. Some people tell me they talk...

Last Saturday was World Mental Health Day, a day dedicated to raising public awareness and promoting the development of mental health services. This year, the official global theme was "Lived...

Last week, I attended a bioethics symposium that discussed a critical question that concerns every family in Oman: why are we having fewer children? According to the National Centre for Statistics and...

In 2010, I walked back into the Department of Behavioural Medicine at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, where I had first started as a junior doctor after graduating from the College of Medicine in...

Some of us spend part of the weekend watching a movie on TV or in the cinema to unwind after a busy week. At times, we find a movie that affects us and makes us reflect on the plot for some time. ...

Last Sunday, my colleague walked into the office with a big smile on his face and a plate of halwa in his hand, and before we said anything, he announced that his son got engaged. We all...

I recently watched the TV series “In Treatment" follows Dr Paul Weston, a psychotherapist in his fifties, through his weekly sessions with patients who come from different ages and backgrounds. The...

Last week, a friend sent me a video of a young man who works as a personal trainer and nutritionist. The video was posted on Instagram, in which he claims that Alzheimer's disease is an invention...

I recently conducted a workshop on occupational burnout for employees in one of the private companies when a middle-aged employee raised their hand and said, “Burnout is something invented by young...

For the past few weeks, psychiatrists have been in the spotlight, and for all the wrong reasons. The Lindsay Clancy trial has been posted on several social media platforms and is gaining public...

I was having coffee with colleagues from different specialties when one of them asked the questions, do you think our jobs affect our personality and how we think. The neurologist volunteered to...

Last week, several social media platforms carried news of the sad death of ten mountain climbers in an avalanche in Pakistan. Sympathetic people posted their condolences to the victims’ families....

I recently travelled to Europe with my family for a summer holiday. Since it was my first driving trip abroad, I decided to go through a travel agent who arranged not only the flights and...

In Oman and other Arab societies, it is customary for parents to arrange a bride for their son. The recommendation often included close cousins or members of the same tribe. Such a system may have...

Last week, a friend sent me a video of an Egyptian doctor who became famous for his controversial diet advice that goes against what international experts have been advocating for years. The doctor...

A while ago, I was approached by Mr A, a young man at the beginning of his career. Like many young professionals, he was trying to build a future in a job market that had become increasingly...

Miss A was preparing for her English exam when a thought crossed her mind: “What if I score less than my brother, who did the same test last year? It was past midnight, and she was halfway through...

When I learned about the new Korean series “Teach You a Lesson," I was curious to watch it. The series focuses on a fictional government called the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB), an...

A colleague recently told me about his son, a young man in his early 20s who had taken up fishing as a hobby. Initially, his parents were delighted as fishing seemed to offer a healthy escape from...