Samar Al-Miqrin
Al Jazeerah
A report recently issued by the Ministry of Health and published by Al-Hayat daily showed that hospitals last year reported 54,000 cases of depression in the Kingdom.
These cases were reported by government-run hospitals, which means that the number of people with depression could be higher as many people could be diagnosed at private hospitals and others would remain undiagnosed.
While I was reading the report, I thought of the Entertainment Commission. I searched the Internet for the Commission’s website, but could not find it and as a result, I have to assume that there is no website even though the Commission was establish more than six months ago.
I tried to find the Commission’s objectives and strategies to promote happiness in Saudi society, but could not find anything about them. I only found information about some of the entertainment activities the Commission will be providing. The activities that it is delivering are not special; they are similar to the ones that the Riyadh Municipality provides. One of the main objectives of such a Commission is the reduction in depression in the Kingdom.
Saudis need to change their lifestyle because the sedentary lifestyle some of us lead causes depression and makes people lose interest in life. The Commission needs to have psychology and psychiatric experts conduct studies and come up with recommendations that will help teenagers and youth do something constructive with their time. The Commission needs to have sociology experts to conduct studies that will help promote healthy lifestyles.
