Culture’s impact on the practice of psychiatry can have many implications as it relates to stigma, access to treatment, diagnostic clarity, and treatment planning. In this episode, we invited Moroccan psychiatrist, Dr. Roukaya Benjelloun, and American-Moroccan medical student, Yasmine Dakhama, to guide our discussion on the interplay between culture and psychiatry in Morocco. Dr. Roukaya Benjelloun is the Department Chair of Mental Health at Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Psychiatry Residency Program Director, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Casablanca, Morocco. In collaboration with a research team, Yasmine conducted medical anthropological research assessing the psychosocial, cultural, and economic factors implicated in kidney transplantation in the Sous-Massa region of Morocco in 2021.

Hosts: Toshia, Alan

Guests: Roukaya Benjelloun, MD, Yasmine Dakhama, MS4

References:

1. Benjelloun R,  Otheman Y, El Kettani C. Consultation liaison psychiatry for COVID-19  inpatients: A novel care delivery program in Morocco. Curr Psychol.  2022;41(8):5731-5733. doi: 10.1007/s12144-020-01200-6.  Epub 2020 Nov 16. PMID: 33223784; PMCID: PMC7669262.

2. Barrimi M, Serraj  K, Rammouz I, Alouane R, Messaoudi N, Bellaoui M. Prevalence of and  Risk Factors for Suicide Attempts Among Patients With Severe Psychiatric  Disorders in Eastern Morocco. Crisis. 2021  Oct 22. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000825. Epub ahead of print. PMID:  34674543.

3. Mekki-Berrada A. 'Ayn mika:  Traumatic experience, social invisibility, and emotional distress of  sub-Saharan women with precarious status in Morocco. Transcult  Psychiatry. 2019 Dec;56(6):1170-1190.  doi: 10.1177/1363461518757798. Epub 2018 Mar 8. PMID: 29516775.

4. Zandi T, Havenaar  JM, Limburg-Okken AG, van Es H, Sidali S, Kadri N, van den Brink W,  Kahn RS. The need for culture sensitive diagnostic procedures: a study  among psychotic patients in Morocco. Soc Psychiatry  Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2008 Mar;43(3):244-50. doi:  10.1007/s00127-007-0290-0. Epub 2007 Nov 30. PMID: 18060339.

5. Zarrouq B, Abbas  N, Hilaly JE, Asri AE, Abbouyi S, Omari M, Malki H, Bouazza S,  Moutawakkil SG, Halim K, Ragala ME. An investigation of the association  between religious coping, fatigue, anxiety and depressive  symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco: a web-based  cross-sectional survey. BMC Psychiatry. 2021 May 22;21(1):264. doi:  10.1186/s12888-021-03271-6. PMID: 34022849; PMCID: PMC8140317.