Mashhad - Iranian Psychiatrist

Visit my wife's aunts house and other relatives: Of interest, there was a young boy at their house who was very shy at first. It was obvious he had a big curiosity and interest to communicate. I made friends with him by showing how to do particular hand tricks. We did quite a lot and it reminds me of a particularly important fact about this trip. It is that most communication is not rigidly dependant on a highly developed formal language, rather is uses face and body gestures, simple tonal sounds, and rough drawings using any object that is at hand. Although this conversation was with a young boy, I have been able to fully communicate my needs and interests, and understand that of others, using such crude tools. But I also admit that it takes a great deal of intention on both parties to want to communicate.

Discussion with Iranian Psychiatrist: One of my wife's relatives is a practicing Psychiatrist in Iran. I asked many questions about the mental health of the population. I asked him to discuss the biggest problems in terms of men, women, youth, old, and in more detail about the treatment of women in this society. Here are some of the answers:

• Biggest issue: Depression and anxiety. People that stay at home have the most depression while those that work outside the home have the most anxiety. This is fairly similar to the US and Iran prescribe the same drugs common in the US.
• Is it getting better or worse: Much worse.
• Why: Post Revolutionary Iran imposes great limitations on what a person may become. Careers are simple, even though the pressure is excruciating to enter the university. Inflation is up 800 time what it was pre-revolution, and even a good career yields poor buying power. Unemployment is rising and there is no stability in government.
• The Iranian double life: Iranians lead a double life. In the home they are proper respectable, gracious and gregarious people, they share great love between their families and friends -- I've described this elsewhere. Outside the house is a different story -- it is such an awfully busy, even torturous exercise to subsist. Schools are government run and do not allow any discussion beyond a rigidly defined memorization of statistics; never allowed to venture outside of the curriculum and never allowed to ask 'why' something is as they are told it is.
• Women and discrimination: The doctor did not feel there was any special discrimination, beyond what is common (though not to be condoned) throughout the world, including the USA. That is, they are paid less than their male counterpart, they are more limited in their careers, poor and uneducated women suffer the most, etc. In university statistics I see that women do comprise a greater percent than the males in advanced degrees.
• The youth: They want change. They hate the system and would be happy regardless of how the system was changed.
• What do you think will happen: Small incremental changes over time. No new revolution or major change in government structure. A gradual strengthening of the President position and a gradual relaxation of the hard-lined government. The reasons are mostly economic. See political climate in commentary.