Depression and officials
Irecently saw a chart that showed countries with high rates of depression. I was shocked to see Kuwait’s name on it. It was exactly opposite to what I thought. For many reasons, a friend of mine who showed me the chart was more shocked than me. “How can a rich and politically stable country, where citizens enjoy full rights and a fair percentage of democracy, freedom of expression and many more privileges, be stricken with depression?” he wondered.
My friend’s exclamation is justified. In countries with such characteristics, people should be happy rather than depressed. My response to him was that those very privileges that ought to make people happy might be the reason for their depression. In this regard, I recalled the statistics we read about the world’s highest suicide rates in the most luxurious, rich and prosperous countries.
Yes, Kuwaitis do enjoy high rates of income and access to all basic public services including education, medical treatment and social aid. The state is responsible for providing all citizens’ needs including housing and so many other amenities. Kuwaiti citizens enjoy relative political freedom by having an elected parliament, a constitution, free press and many others. On the other hand, corruption is dreadfully prevailing and destructive. Those who used to have empty pockets now own millions-worth of money in their bank accounts.
Sectarianism and dividing people into classes are prevailing in the Kuwaiti society. Everybody is becoming more materialistic. All these elements destroy and weaken a man’s spirit and turn him into an easy prey for depression and other diseases.
In addition, the affluence Kuwaiti individuals enjoy has made them used to easy lofty living and high sensitivity. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to depression because they lack psychological defenses needed to counter such a disease. So, have our senior officials heard about this? Will they work on solving this problem? Or are they themselves the cause of depression?
On the other hand, corruption is dreadfully prevailing and destructive