The turbulent events taking place in this country since the January 25 revolution have turned the majority of the 85 million population into close political observers driven by the hope for a better life. According to a recent study, the stress caused by 18 months of unprecedented chaos, bloodshed and political battles resulting in uncertainty has led to a rising number of psychological disorders. Today, around 17 per cent of Egyptians suffer from such disturbances. Patients already staying at the Abbassiya Mental Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility in the Middle East, are more or less detached from what happens outside. But the intensity of events has affected some of the patients, who are still in touch with reality and the outside world. Although the patients did not have a chance to cast their ballot in the parliamentary elections last year or the first round of the presidential polls last month, the hospital administration is working on a draft bill to enable patients with a reasonable degree of awareness to vote. However, since the bill is not yet completed, the patients will not be able to have their say in the runoff that will determine Egypt's next president. According to Hanan Ghadiri, the head of the hospital's socio-psychological rehabilitation department, public events are addressed in group therapy sessions, since many patients follow current events by watching TV. Ghadiri advocates the right of mental patients to be part of the electoral process as long as they have the mental ability to reason and choose. “Why should they not be allowed to vote, considering that not all voters in the outside world are as sane as they seem,” Ghadiri told the Radio and TV magazine in clear reference to rising psychological disorders in society. She pointed out that part of the treatment strategy is to develop a sense of self-esteem, which is of utmost importance, particularly since society considers them as having no value. She explained that some patients could have been taken to their respective polling stations by medical staff, but the doctors feared they would be accused of influencing these patients in their choice of voting. Iman Hussein, 26, an Abbassiya patient suffering from depression after losing her father and getting divorced, feels that she is living in a family in Abbassiya. She realises that she has the right to cast her ballot. Yet she does not wish to choose either Shafiq, who served in the Mubarak regime, or Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. She believes that the two candidates a re not fit to run the country in this critical period. Hussein Mahmud, a 30 year-old patient, was hospitalised for the first time at the age of 15. He was re-admitted a few years after he got married. Mahmud was thrilled by the revolution and wished that he had the right to vote. “I would vote for Shafiq, because an army man is more capable of leading,” Mahmud told the magazine. Amira Fathi, a hospital social worker, said that a number of patients could actually lead a normal life. “They can work, marry and exercise their political rights.” She did admit that some patients had no birth certificates and therefore no ID cards, which deprived them of many rights. Mustafa Hussein, Director of Abbassiya Hospital, explained that the condition of 60 to 70 per cent of patients was stable, particularly older ones. “Yet some patients stay here permanently owing to social reasons, like having no relatives or no residence. Patients are kept abreast of societal issues and ongoing events by the medical teams. The administration believes that part of the therapy is to involve patients in community activities and in practising their political rights as fully-fledged citizens. The proposed bill will enable the hospital to set up polling stations or integrate the patients into the electorate in other ways.
