As the region moves deeper into prolonged uncertainty, many people are noticing a shift: less adrenaline, more sustained stress, jumpiness, distraction, and emotional drain.

In this ConnectForHealth Special Edition, Scott Armstrong (mentl) and Alison Sharp (Cigna Healthcare MEA) are joined by Dr Jane Halsall, Chartered Counselling Psychologist at Cornerstone Clinic, to explain why this “emotional fatigue” phase can hit hard, and what individuals, families and workplaces can do to protect mental wellbeing.

We cover:

•  Why week three (and beyond) can feel psychologically different 
•  Hyper-vigilance, emotional whiplash, and why you feel more jumpy 
•  Practical nervous system regulation tools (sleep, movement, grounding) 
•  The psychological impact of the 24/7 news cycle and media literacy 
•  Why focus drops at work and how to manage expectations 
•  How children absorb adult anxiety and how to steady the home environment 

Listen now for valuable advice on how to continue navigating the regional tension.

Chapters (10)

00:00 Welcome and why “emotional fatigue” is showing up now 
 01:56 Why week three and beyond feels different psychologically 
 04:30 Logic vs emotion: when you’re coping on the surface but drained underneath 
 06:40 Hyper-vigilance and threat detection mode (why you feel jumpy) 
 08:38 Practical regulation tools: movement, grounding, and settling the body 
 12:22 Media literacy and the 24/7 news cycle (reducing overload) 
 15:00 Poll 1: what’s affecting people most right now 
 19:09 Why people are struggling to focus at work (and what helps) 
 38:35 Poll 2: what support would help most over the next 7 days 
 55:10 Children absorbing adult anxiety and how to steady the environment 

In the latest ConnectForHealth episode, Scott Armstrong (mentl) and co-host Maissa Al Khafajy (Cigna Healthcare Middle East and Africa) are joined by Dr Khaled Kadry, Director of Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services, Sakina for Children, to explore Parenting in the AI Age: Teens & Digital Screens.

From ChatGPT to TikTok, today’s teens live in a digital-first world. This conversation focuses on practical, realistic tools for parents and carers, including:

• What’s genuinely different for teens today and why it matters
• Screen time, social media, and gaming: risks, warning signs, and what to prioritise
• How dopamine, focus, sleep, and motivation can be affected
• Positive reinforcement that actually works (and why shame backfires)
• Quality time and relationship “banking” so boundaries land better
• How to engage teenagers, build trust, and keep communication open
  What parents should understand about AI tools like ChatGPT

This episode is part of ConnectForHealth, the live wellbeing webinar and podcast series from Cigna Healthcare Middle East and Africa, produced with support from mentl.

Chapter List: 

02:35 What’s genuinely different for teens today
07:15 Key principles for parents (model behaviour, purpose of screen use)
11:43 Mental health risks and warning signs (anxiety, focus, sleep, mood)
16:24 Poll 1: what would help parents most
22:40 Emotional regulation: positive reinforcement, not shame
29:16 Reward systems that work (age-appropriate incentives)
31:14 Quality time first: build the relationship before boundaries
35:46 Teens push boundaries: how to keep trust and communication
40:53 AI and ChatGPT: benefits, risks, and where to draw lines
46:24 Shorts, engaging teens, and practical ways to enter their world

When your world feels uncertain, your nervous system does not wait for permission. It reacts. So how do steady we steady ourselves when things seem out of our control? 

In this ConnectForHealth Special Edition, Scott Armstrong, founder of mentl, and co-host Alison Sharp, of Cigna Healthcare Middle East and Africa. are joined by Dr Joseph R. El-Khoury, Consultant Adult and Addiction Psychiatrist and Co-founder and Medical Director of Valens Clinic in the UAE.

This session is shaped by what many across the GCC and here in the UAE have been living through during heightened geopolitical tension. Even when we are physically safe, the nervous system can still react to uncertainty, constant updates, and triggers like sudden loud sounds.

We cover practical, usable tools including:

• What is happening in the body and brain when you feel on edge
• Why sudden sounds can trigger the stress response
• How past trauma can resurface during crisis
• Finding the small part you can control (routines, boundaries, communication)
• Sleep protection during periods of heightened alertness
• Audience Q&A, including support for family and children

If you want practical, calm tools you can use today, plus honest answers to real audience questions, this is for you.

Better health is not only about motivation or more information. It is about making better decisions consistently, and knowing how to navigate care when you need it.

In this ConnectForHealth episode, Scott Armstrong and Maissa Al Khafajy are joined by renowned author, TV host, and a leading voice in digital health education, Dr Johannes Wimmer to unpack health literacy as a practical skill for optimising your health and getting more value from your health insurance. 

The goal is simple: the right care, at the right time, in the right place, so you protect your energy, time, and wellbeing.

In this episode, Dr Wimmer covers:

• What “health literacy” really means, and why it is not about being “medical” or academic
• Why most of health happens outside the clinic, and how to manage the “before and after” of appointments
• How to prepare for a doctor visit so you leave with clarity, not confusion
• The problem of information overload and distractions, and why quick fixes can undermine long-term health
• How to think about support systems and partners in your health journey, including your insurer
• Why healthcare navigation can feel very different depending on the system, and what that means for patient behaviour
• How to communicate symptoms and concerns clearly without locking yourself into a self-diagnosis
• Practical ways to reduce wasted appointments, repeat visits, and frustration
• Why prevention and early action matter, and how to use care more appropriately
• A simple mindset shift to help you take control of your health decisions

Chapter List:

0:00 Intro and why health literacy matters
1:54 What “health literacy” actually means
6:36 Information overload and the danger of “quick fixes”
8:40 Health insurance as a partner, and why appropriate use matters
15:52 How to “get what you want” from a doctor visit
19:49 Health literacy for older adults and chronic conditions
29:52 The real cost of poor health literacy (not only money)
39:21 Checklists and how to present your story clearly to a doctor
44:03 Why filtering symptoms around a self-diagnosis can backfire
58:34 One key takeaway to remember from the whole conversation

Healthy Plate, Healthy Mind isn’t about dieting. It’s about feeling better.

In this timely episode of ConnectForHealth, a Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa initiative in partnership with mentl, host Scott Armstrong (Founder of mentl) and co-host Maissa Al Khafajy (Head of Government Affairs & Strategic Communications, Cigna Healthcare) sit down with Dr Shefali Verma to explore how the food you eat, and when you eat it, can shape your mood, focus, energy, and mental clarity, especially during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

From brain fog and headaches to sleep disruption and cravings, the conversation focuses on the changes that make fasting feel steadier, and the habits that can carry beyond Ramadan.

💬 Topics include:

• The mindset shift that makes Ramadan feel less like deprivation and more like a sustainable lifestyle change
• Meal timing, digestion, and why eating close to bedtime can sabotage sleep quality
• Hydration and electrolytes: why water alone is not always enough
• Breaking the fast: dates, sugar, and small choices that make a big difference
• When to train while fasting, and how to choose what fits your routine
• Constipation during Ramadan, and why it can affect mood, irritability, and anxiety

🎧 Whether you’re fasting for the month, supporting someone who is, or simply curious about the link between nutrition and mental wellbeing, this episode is designed to leave you with clarity you can use immediately.

📌 ConnectForHealth is a podcast and live webinar series from Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa in partnership with mentl, helping you thrive through every stage of life.

Chapter List:

03:35 Ramadan eating window, digestion and sleep basics
05:07 Mindset going into Ramadan (lifestyle vs “diet” thinking)
13:50 Meal timing before bed and improving sleep quality
16:22 Audience questions begin (live Q&A thread kicks off)
22:53 Electrolytes, hydration, headaches and mental clarity
26:56 Breaking the fast: dates, sugar, and practical choices
28:31 When to train during Ramadan (before or after iftar)
33:07 Constipation in Ramadan, mood, and what to do
58:15 Closing and wrap

Failure is uncomfortable - especially when it’s our children experiencing it. But what if failure is one of the most powerful teachers we can give them?

In this episode of ConnectForHealth, host Scott Armstrong, Founder of mentl, and co-host Maissa Al Khafajy, Head of Government Affairs and Strategic Communications at Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa, explore The Power of Failure and what setbacks can teach our kids about resilience, confidence, and emotional intelligence.

Joining the conversation are two powerful voices:

• Sebastian Bates, Founder and CEO of The Warrior Academy and The Bates Foundation, whose work in character education is shaped by personal experience - from childhood bullying to a life-changing accident - and who has mentored over 50,000 families across seven countries.
• Lee Ryan, Manager of Sports Excellence and Athlete Development for Cognita Schools Middle East through the Enrich ME programme, bringing a coach’s perspective on how challenge, loss, and failure in sport can shape stronger, more resilient young people.

Together, they unpack:

• Why shielding children from failure can do more harm than good
• How setbacks build confidence, emotional intelligence, and self-belief
• The role parents, coaches, and schools play in reframing failure
• How sport and physical challenge help kids process disappointment
• What failure teaches children that success never can

This is a must for parents, educators, coaches, and anyone involved in shaping young people’s lives.

Chapter List

00:00 – Welcome & episode context
Introduction to Connect for Health and why resilience and failure matter for children. 

03:06 – What is resilience really?
Sebastian Bates and Lee Ryan define resilience as coping, recovery, and repetition. 

05:24 – The parental instinct to shield children
Why protecting children from pain can unintentionally weaken resilience.

09:02 – Reframing failure
Failure as unmet expectations, learning loops, and the foundation of success.

12:37 – Lived experience and bullying
Sebastian shares his childhood bullying story and how it shaped his work today. 

17:47 – How bullying actually works
Body language, empathy, confidence signaling, and practical tools for children. 

22:54 – Cyberbullying and digital resilience
Why online bullying is different and how parents can reduce harm and build self-worth. 

30:43 – Working parents and quality time
Non-negotiable connection, presence over perfection, and daily rituals that matter. 

39:39 – Supporting children through failure
Practical advice for academic pressure, exclusion, and confidence after setbacks. 

55:00 – Final reflections and key takeaways
Courage, character, and why failure is a teacher, not a threat.

In this episode of ConnectForHealth, Scott Armstrong and Maissa Al Khafajy are joined by chartered accountant and money coach Carol Glynn of Conscious Finance Coaching to explore one of the most universal sources of stress: money.

Drawing on years of coaching experience and audience insights, Carol explains why financial pressure affects every part of our lives - our sense of safety, our relationships, our wellbeing and how we make daily choices.

The discussion looks at why people across all income levels experience money anxiety, including those in senior, high-earning roles. Carol breaks down how mindset, self-esteem and inherited beliefs shape our relationship with money, and why earning more rarely solves the underlying problem.

They examine how men and women often view money differently, why couples can struggle to understand each other’s financial behaviour, and how arguments about money usually stem from emotional meaning rather than numbers.

Carol shares practical tools for getting clarity, understanding spending patterns, building a cash-flow plan, and aligning money with your values. The conversation also explores how financial stress affects families and how children absorb money behaviours from the adults around them.

Later in the episode, Carol explains the foundations of financial wellness, from budgeting and needs versus wants, to saving with purpose, building a cash cushion, managing debt and approaching investing with confidence and understanding.

This session is part of the ConnectForHealth series from Cigna Healthcare Middle East and Africa, supported by mentl.

Chapter List:

00:00:10 – Welcome to Connect for Health

00:02:03 – Why money impacts every part of our lives

00:03:55 – Mindset, self-esteem and stress around money

00:04:46 – Two families, same income story, different outcomes

00:08:27 – How men and women think differently about money

00:11:10 – What money means to you: audience perspectives

00:17:01 – Values, clarity and purpose: the core money mindset shift

00:20:24 – Are we living our values or the ‘hamster wheel’?

00:23:34 – What causes financial stress: clarity, planning and debt

00:43:37 – Building financial skills: budgeting, investing and long-term goals

In this special edition of ConnectForHealth, we take you inside the Cigna International Health Study (CIHS) 2025 - UAE Edition - the most comprehensive look at the state of well-being, vitality, and workplace health across the Emirates.

For the fourth consecutive year, mentl has authored the UAE white paper, tracking the nation’s wellbeing story as it rises year after year - even as global well-being softens. And this year’s findings are nothing short of remarkable.

Joining host Scott Armstrong, founder of mentl, and co-host Maissa Al Khafajy, Head of Government Affairs and Strategic Communications at Cigna Healthcare MEA, are two powerhouse voices:

• Leah Cotterill, CEO, Cigna Healthcare Middle East and Africa (excl. KSA)
• Hana Agil, HR Director, MEA, International Organizations, Strategy, International Health, Cigna Healthcare)

Together they unpack:

• Why the UAE is now a global leader in well-being and vitality
• What’s driving unprecedented gains in mental health, optimism, and quality of life
• The paradox of progress: rising vitality alongside persistent stress, loneliness, and financial pressure
• Why 67% of employees are actively job-hunting yet 80% say they’d work harder for their employer
• What Gen Z is telling us about unmanageable stress and loneliness
• How company culture - and manager behaviour - directly shapes well-being, retention and productivity
• Why healthcare benefits have overtaken flexible working as the number one most valued employee benefit
• How AI and digital health are transforming expectations
• The urgent call for employers: one size no longer fits all

This is essential listening for business leaders, HR professionals, policymakers, and anyone shaping the future of work in the region.

Chapter List 

 01:10 - Why CIHS matters 
 02:00 - UAE well-being and vitality outperforming global trends
 03:20 - What makes the UAE different
 05:10 - Stress, financial pressure and loneliness emerging as key tension points
 07:00 - The UAE’s unique demographic resilience
 09:00 - Government investment in well-being and mental health
 10:10 - Mental health becomes the UAE’s number one priority
 12:00 - Why ambition, mobility and personal development drive wellbeing
 13:20 - The surprising rise of job-hunting (67%)
 14:40 - Gen Z stress, unmanageable stress and loneliness
 17:05 - Hybrid work, disconnection and the loss of workplace community
 19:00 - The 53% manager-understanding problem
 20:40 - Healthcare benefits become the number one preferred benefit
 21:50 - Stress levels, family priorities and emotional load
 24:00 - Social media, perfectionism and digital stressors
 26:00 - Loneliness as a health risk (as harmful as 15 cigarettes a day)
 28:30 - Why employers must take loneliness seriously
 30:15 - Productivity, ROI and the business case for well-being
 31:30 - Menopause, perimenopause and the cost of ignoring women’s health
 34:00 - Manager training, empathy and psychological safety
 36:00 - Gender wellbeing gaps and workplace realities
 40:00 - The tension between ambition, parental guilt and family priorities
 42:10 - The economic cost of disengagement in the UAE
 43:40 - Why well-being is a business fundamental
 45:00 - Leadership vulnerability and building trust
 47:30 - Digital health, AI, telehealth and EAP adoption
 53:00 - Trust as a barrier to digital and mental health support
 54:00 - The employer–employee trust equation 
 56:00 - Final advice: the number one thing employers can do tomorrow
 58:10 - Closing remarks and where to find the CIHS 2025 report

Men’s health is at a crossroads — and this conversation is one every man (and every employer, partner, teammate and friend) needs to hear.

In this episode of ConnectForHealth, host Scott Armstrong, Founder of mentl, and co-host Maissa Al Khafajy, Head of Government Affairs & Strategic Communications at Cigna Healthcare MEA, sit down with

Dr Ed Cody, Consultant Family Medicine at Mediclinic Middle East, to explore the hidden drivers shaping men’s physical and mental wellbeing.

From chronic stress to disrupted sleep, low mood, burnout, digestive issues and the symptoms men tend to hide - this is a practical, honest and surprisingly relatable look at what’s really going on in men’s lives today.

Dr Ed also opens up about his personal journey with stress, fear of getting help, and the realities men face when navigating modern pressures. This is one of the most impactful, human episodes yet.

Topics include:

•Why 84% of men in the UAE report high stress

•Why men delay seeking help until “something is leaking or falling off”

•How stress physically affects weight, digestion, energy and performance

•The link between cortisol, burnout and chronic health issues

•Why men struggle with emotional expression

•Mental health stigma in the workplace

•The pressures facing fathers, partners and working men

•How companies can support male wellbeing

•How to recognise the early signs of trouble — in yourself or someone you care about

This episode is part of ConnectForHealth, a well-being initiative by Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa in partnership with mentl, recorded live for Cigna members and available afterwards on podcast and YouTube.

⏱️ CHAPTER LIST 

0:00 – Welcome to ConnectForHealth

1:08 – Introducing Dr Ed Cody

2:54 – Why vague symptoms often come from stress

4:57 – The mind-body connection for men

6:22 – Why men wait too long to seek medical help

11:52 – “Men don’t come in until something is leaking or falling off”

14:28 – Scott’s ADHD diagnosis & men’s fear of seeking help

17:36 – How stress shows up physically

18:54 – Cortisol, weight gain & stress-related symptoms

22:07 – Recognising when stress becomes chronic

24:25 – Pressure on men in work & family life

28:40 – How employers can support men’s mental health

33:10 – The truth about burnout

37:45 – What men can do to support their emotional health

41:50 – The role of sleep in men’s wellbeing

45:40 – Breaking stigma & normalising conversations

48:55 – Final advice from Dr Ed

50:50 – Closing comments

Menopause isn’t the end - it’s a new beginning.

In this powerful episode of ConnectForHealth, a Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa initiative in partnership with mentl, host Scott Armstrong (Founder of mentl) and co-host Maissa Al Khafajy (Head of Government Affairs & Strategic Communications, Cigna Healthcare) sit down with two trailblazers transforming how we understand menopause:

• Dr. Fiona Rennie, Family Medicine Consultant with a special interest in Women’s Health & Menopause at Genesis Healthcare Center (@menopause_doc_dubai)
• Donna Howarth, Founder & CEO of the Middle East Menopause Organisation (MEMO)

Together, they unpack the myths, the science, and the emotional realities of menopause - from the medical to the personal, and even the professional.

💬 Topics include:

• Why menopause is not the end - but the start of a powerful new phase of life
• The connection between hormones, mental health, and confidence
• How workplaces can better support women in midlife
• The role of partners and male allies - and how understanding can transform relationships
• Real strategies for energy, sleep, balance, and vitality

🎧 With World Menopause Day on October 18, this episode shines a light on a topic that deserves open, informed conversation - for women, their partners and families, and their employers.

📍 Chapters:

0:00 – Introduction
 2:14 – Menopause as a new beginning (Dr. Fiona Rennie)
 5:13 – Donna’s journey and founding MEMO
 10:34 – Misdiagnosis and the hidden toll of menopause
 18:00 – Mental health, relationships, and “meno-divorce”
 28:45 – How men can be allies and support better communication
 37:00 – Building workplace support and retaining female talent
 48:30 – Lifestyle, exercise, and self-care for long-term health
 55:00 – Closing reflections and World Menopause Day message

📌 ConnectForHealth is a podcast and live webinar series from Cigna Healthcare Middle East & Africa in partnership mentl, helping you thrive through every stage of life.

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