Trust me, I am a doctor
The TV documentary “Bad Surgeon, Love under the Knife” tells the story of Dr Paolo Macchiarini, the Italian surgeon and researcher who was known for his regenerative experimental transplantation...
Can doctors and patients be FB friends?
A patient walked into my clinic for the first time, as I started introducing myself, she asks” how was your conference in Qatar? Did you like the mall you visited on Friday night? I paused for a...
How can we age well?
As an old-age psychiatrist working with people aged sixty and above, I often feel moved with the range of people coming to my clinic listening to their early life experiences and how it shaped their...
Do we need suicide enquires?
Suicide is a tragic event not only for the patient’s family but also for the healthcare professionals who are caring for him.After fajr prayers, the young man next to me shook my hand and whispered,...
Podcast- GreenMent S:04 E:01
On our first episode of Green Ment Season 4, with Dr Hamed al Sinawi, we look at anxiety and ask the question, ‘Is anxiety an illness and does it run in the families?How can we distinguish between...
Palestinian lives do matter
Last week I was teaching a group of medical students about medical ethics. I started by presenting the Islamic version of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors from around the world swear before starting...
Why we should all boycott
THE war in Gaza is changing everything in our lives even though we live miles away from the place of the real conflict we feel the pain of our brothers and sisters who are being slaughtered while the...
You have been canceled
Greta Thunberg, the twenty-year-old Swedish environmental activist known for her campaign for an immediate action for climate change tweeted last week “Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine...
War news and mental health
A colleague of mine says, "My wife constantly follows the news of the war in Gaza to the extent that she stays up late and never stops discussing what she sees in videos of destruction and killing....
Thriving in a changing world
The ancient saying “this too shall pass is believed to originate from the Persian Sufi poets who describe the temporary nature of the human coned and that neither the bad, nor good, moments in life...
You should talk to someone
The book titled “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” by the American therapist Lori Gottlieb describes the personal and professional difficulties she experienced when her long-term partner broke up...
Once a bipolar
People with mental health problems often face multiple challenges in their lives, not only because of the symptoms they experience but by how people around them treat them.Ranging from being called...
What makes a successful awareness campaign?
Every September people interested in Alzheimer’s around the world conduct activities to mark World Alzheimer’s Month by sharing materials through social media while some conduct conferences and...
Achieving work-life balance
A few weeks ago, I was conducting a workshop on well-being at work and mentioned the importance of keeping a work-life balance when one of the participants told me that it’s something easy said and...
Would you rather work from home?
The last week of August marks the end of the school holidays and the traffic on that day is very busy causing stress and delays for people driving to their workplaces. Working from home, which became...
The battle against Alzheimer’s
September is World Alzheimer's Month, during which the focus is on raising public awareness about Alzheimer's and other dementias.This year's theme is dedicated to discussing strategies to reduce the...
You can call me anytime
In a recent action movie, we see the American actor Mel Gibson featured as a psychiatrist treating a psychopath who escapes FBI house arrest to attend his brother’s funeral, only to have a gang of...
We grieve differently
Ahmed — not his real name — was in his early forties when he attended therapy. He was married for over fifteen years but every time his wife gets pregnant she has a miscarriage in the first few...
You are being stalked
Last week I watched a movie about a young waitress who finds a handbag on the subway and decides to return it to its owner.The bag had a card with a name and an address which leads her to an eccentric...
Age is not but a number
When I conduct workshops about the elderly for medical or nursing students, I always begin by asking them about their thoughts and perceptions when they encounter an elderly person.The responses I...