46%

methods meant to exorcise “demons” or to ward off a spell or a curse or some other invisible magical force.

Advances in the treatment of mental illness in Saudi Arabia began to be made in the 1950s, with the building of the first psychiatric hospital in Taif province. The problem with the Taif Mental Hospital in Shahar was that it was the only one of its kind for a population of six to eight million people. Progress was gradual and not easy, with all kinds of public expectations vying for policymaking priority.

In the same way that social problems such as spouse abuse