'SYABU' BACKLASH

A rise in the consumption of the deadly narcotic 'Syabu' or
Methylamphetamine by drug abusers could lead to a serious mental
health problem in the country, medical experts warned yesterday.

Dr. Ramli Hassan, Head of Administration of Psychiatry Department of
RIPAS Hospital in a presentation entitled "Mental Health and Services
at the Psychiatry Department to residents of Mukim Berakas 'B', made
this serious observation.

Last year (2005), some 556 grams of Syabu or methylamphetamine were
seized, the highest since 2002. It surpassed other drugs confiscated
in the sultanate like cannabis herb, ecstasy, heroin and morphine.

On another note, he revealed people suffering from physical diseases
like diabetes have a 10% to 25% chance of experiencing depression, 20%
to 40% in cancer patients, 20% in strokes and 15% to 20% in those
suffering from heart attacks.

Dr. Ramli also highlighted ways to avoid stress by taking into account
financial aspects such as through proper financial management, wise
economic planning, avoiding long-term debts especially relating to
credit cards and high-risk investments and the determination to
deposit money not less than 10% of the salary.

In terms of family, stress busting could be achieved by spending more
time with children and family, finding parenting techniques to suite
child development and playing the role as parents in a healthy manner.

He also underlined the need to strengthen one's religious faith, share
problems, build a good social network, avoid revenge, live in
moderation and to avoid chasing after perfection as well as being
willing to accept and forgive.

Dr. Ramli also urged maintaining a healthy mental attitude like peace
of mind and executing responsibilities calmly. The signs of
identifying high levels of stress were being tense, feeling intense,
frequent loss of temper, not being attentive, disturbed sleeping
pattern, palpitations and stomachache.

He also briefed on the technique of handling stress including
breathing, flexing muscle, avoiding negative thoughts, propagating
positive thoughts, meditation and yoga.