Stress Management for Young Adults Living in Saudi Arabia

Over the past couple of decades, Saudi Arabia has witnessed a great deal of industrialization. The industrial revolution, combined with the western influence in this region, have not only led to urbanization but also the lifestyle change. Even so, it is imperative to add to the account that the lifestyle change has come with more challenges than its benefits. For example, with the growing evidence of industrialization, adult workers have reported incidences of increased stress and depression due to workplace pressure. Besides, the young adults who have moved to Saudi Arabia to search for employment have also indicated a significant rate of anxiety. According to Abou Abbas1, whereas the incidence of stress and depression have been studied in depth in Saudi Arabia, several studies have not explored into its prevention strategies. Moreover, vast researches have sidelined the effects of stress and depression that young adults suffer in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the paper seeks to delve into some of the previous literature concerning stress level and its management interventions among the young adults living in Saudi Arabia.

            Series of studies in the past have demonstrated that close to half of the adult patients seeking treatments in various care centers exhibit depressive and stress-related symptoms. Statistics also shows that the highest percentage of patients with psychological issues in the mental health wards are the adolescents and the young adults. Of course, researches have continued to prove that the case in Saudi Arabia is not different from this global trend. Iñiguez4 revealed that the perceived level of stress is highest among the young population living in Saudi Arabia. In as much as the level of stress differs based on the nationality of these young individuals, it is important to recount that this age-group suffers the most in terms of perceived level of stress and depression. Raheel5

also noted that the young immigrants in Saudi Arabia shows a higher level of stress and depression related cased as opposed to their counterparts who are born and raised in Saudi Arabia. Hence, an individual’s nationality contributes a lot towards their stress and depression prevalence.

            Parallel studies also looked into the stress levels among the university students in Saudi Arabia. The results for Alosaimi2

indicated that other than workers who report high incidences of stress and depression in this country, students from the university also indicate a remarkable level anxiety and depression. The majority of students who go to study in Saudi Arabia, especially the non-Arab students, undergo high levels of culture shock. Adapting to the new environment and new people often takes time, which is always a challenge to many of them. Besides, Alosaimi2 claimed that Christians habitually face a challenge of being assimilated into the Muslim community, which is the dominant religion in the Arab nations. The rejection based on an individual’s belief often lead to stress and depression among the minority faith. The Arab countries have always had the issue of gender discrimination at the workplace. Of course, Raheel5 reiterated that looking down upon female gender at various points of work is a significant contributor of stress among the young adults who go to seek for formal employments in Saudi Arabia.

            Concisely, grounded in the perceived high levels of stress among the young adult population in Saudi Arabia, it is important to design some of the most effective interventions that would curtail this health issue. Raheel5

have stated that adherence to the stress management practices both at individual and organizational levels would be effective in the treatment of stress among the young adults living in Saudi Arabia. Alosaimi3 concluded that individual and occupational therapies have been staged as some of the most effective treatment interventions that would curb the high incidence of stress among the youths.

References

1) Abou Abbas O, AlBuhairan F. Predictors of adolescents’ mental health problems in Saudi Arabia: findings from the Jeeluna® national study: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health; 2017.

2) Alosaimi FD, Alshehri Y, Alfraih I, et al. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among visitors to faith healers in Saudi Arabia: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences; 2014.

3) Alosaimi FD, Al-Sultan OA, Alghamdi QA, et al. Gender-specific differences in depression and anxiety symptoms and help-seeking behavior among gastroenterology patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Neurosciences; 2014.

4) Iñiguez SD, Riggs LM, Nieto SJ, et al. Social defeat stress induces a depression-like phenotype in adolescent male c57BL/6 mice: Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands); 2014.

5) Raheel H. Coping strategies for stress used by adolescent girls in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences; 2014.