SYDNEY // Australia's imams have been urged to delegate responsibility for mental health issues to professional therapists and doctors to respond to the complex psychological needs of the country's growing Muslim population.
The call has been made at a seminar in Sydney that has showcased a new course for Islamic religious leaders and community volunteers on basic counselling skills, an initiative that has been ignored by a major constituency.
"Interestingly, for the programme that I am conducting around Australia, not one imam has registered," explained Hanan Dover, a forensic psychologist who runs four clinics in Sydney. "I know the imams are quite burnt out. We have a saying 'jack of all trades' but I call the imams 'Mohammed of all trades', because people go to them for every minute issue.
"They have to lead prayers five times a day, they have to do funeral prayers, marriages, look after divorces and family issues. The burden of responsibility on them is quite high but I think they need to be able to refer on to people who have the skills."
Ms Dover has advocated a more holistic attitude to ease the hefty workload of clerics to allow them to concentrate on dispensing religious and spiritual advice.
"The best way is to have an integrated approach where the imams, doctors, psychologists and counsellors are working in collaboration. So, there is a network rather than imams assuming responsibility for everything. They [parishioners] can still get the theological information from the sheikh but let them go and get the mediation from those who know how to mediate because the community has a lot of respect for imams and sheikhs but often they come out disillusioned," she added.
Ms Dover's ideas for mosques to harness professional mental health expertise have been supported by the Islamic Council of Victoria.
"Our imams are very relevant but we would like to make them more relevant," said Sherene Hassan, the council's vice president. "There is always room for improvement and imams themselves have acknowledged that. They have requested additional professional development.
"From what I understand there are imams already utilising Muslim health professionals. I know the imams are keen to get training on this particular issue."
More than 40 per cent of Australian Muslims were born here and while their numbers and influence have flourished, there has also been an increase in demand for psychological therapy.
Ms Hassan believes that as the Muslim population matures and becomes more established in Australia, efforts must be made to ensure that its emotional well-being is looked after.
"Initially the focus for first generation Muslim migrants was to establish mosques and schools. For second generation Muslims we are working beyond that and trying to service the Muslim community in other ways and be part of mainstream society," Ms Hassan explained from her home in Melbourne.
The Australian National Imams Council has acknowledged that only a few of its members have received formal mental health training. The organisation's spokesman, Sheikh Mohamad Nawas Saleem, said Islamic religious leaders often did not attend training courses because they were "overwhelmed" with work or felt that their lack of proficiency in English would hinder their understanding of expert instruction.
Mr Saleem said those in religious authority should be willing to utilise the help of specialists. "Definitely the imams should be conscious of their own capacity to deal with mental health issues. It is very unprofessional if you are indulging in something you are not trained to deal with.
"It is very important for imams if they have found someone who is mentally ill and needs attention from a psychologist or a counsellor to refer them to the professionals."
Recent arrivals to Australia, including refugees from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan who have been held in Australian immigration detention centres, can often suffer from serious psychological problems, where they are overcome by waves of depression and loneliness as well as poor self-esteem and a lack of confidence.
"Sometimes because I have gone through the journey like they have, we don't have to spend many sessions for them to describe what they have gone through. I have been through war and know about post-traumatic stress disorder," said Afsaneh Jolan, a child and adolescent psychologist at Ms Dover's treatment centres in western Sydney, who moved from Iran to Turkey with her Kurdish family as refugees and arrived in Australia in 1995.
Most of the clinics' patients are Muslims and Ms Jolan, who is fluent in English, Kurdish, Farsi and Turkish, said that proper care could help those badly affected by their past rebuild their lives.
"Yes, they are in a dark place but it is changing. People are seeking more professional help and it makes it easier when a person is from their background, they speak the same language or have a similar faith," she added.
"Some of them feel that they are not accepted and feel isolated. They don't want to engage and integrate, so we try and help them do that."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
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UAE%20PREMIERSHIP
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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Bawaal%20
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The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
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HAJJAN
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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