JEDDAH, 9 April 2008 — An increasingly fast paced life and the inability to relax and enjoy oneself makes people stressful, anxious and angry, said Dr. Khalid M. Bahaziq, a psychiatric and family counselor.
“Anxiety and stress are like a twin brother and sister. Most people come to me fearing the unknown future. They often don’t know how to get rid of this feeling,” said Bahaziq.
“They make people lose their tempers, and when they are under stress, anything can set them off.”
A series of violent crimes across the Kingdom in the past two months have shocked and baffled many people. Last month, a Syrian man decapitated his 15-month-old nephew at Al-Marhaba supermarket in Jeddah. The 25-year-old man, who is the boy’s maternal uncle, killed the boy following a dispute between his sister and her estranged brother-in-law.
A few weeks later, a Syrian mother strangled her three-year-old daughter at their family home. Neighbors said that the woman and her husband, both in their 30s, seemed happily married but would often squabble.
Bahaziq said it is easy for someone suffering from anxiety, stress and anger to kill a child that he may even love and care so much for. “Children cannot defend themselves, so it’s easier to kill one’s children,” he said.
“A person suffering from stress or anxiety thinks that if he does something like killing or using drugs then he’ll be able to manage stress.”
Last week in Riyadh, a 40-year-old Saudi man beat his 12-year-old daughter and then left her to die by tying her to a wall. On Sunday, a schoolteacher drowned his 20-year-old wife and eight-month-old baby boy in a bathtub. The man then surrendered himself to police saying he was suffering from mental problems.
The UK based Mental Health Foundation says anger is often only dealt with after someone commits an aggressive crime. According to the foundation’s website, higher levels of anger are related to low levels of social support and high stress levels. High levels of anger have also been associated with less frequent use of positive coping strategies such as actively addressing problems.
The Anxiety Disorders Association of America says that women are twice as likely to be affected than men with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), which is characterized by persistent, excessive and unrealistic worry about everyday things, and unrelenting worry about health, family, money, or work.
“Unfortunately, everybody is so occupied that they forget to relax. Women, for instance, are so busy with their household responsibilities and men don’t care. Ninety percent of women who suffer from backache or neck-pain do so because of stress and anxiety,” said Bahaziq.
“Humans need to do some maintenance and relax. Relaxation techniques help individuals develop the ability to cope more effectively with stress and physical symptoms contributing to anxiety.”
