The Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Research Lab Newsletter Issue#3

ISSUE 3, (FALL 2019)

Positive Psychology and Well being Research lab OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND WELL BEING RESEARCH LAB

Founder's Note What an eventful year it has been! The Positive

We wanted to shed light on depression, its

Psychology and Well being Research Lab has

symptoms, causes and treatments. We also

come a long way since its establishment. I am

wished to convey that the simplest and best

extremely proud of the achievements we have

thing we can do for someone who is suffering

accomplished this semester. We have worked

from depression is to just be there for them

diligently to achieve our mission of improving

and support them as needed. I sincerely

the well being of people and society. It was an

thank all our team members, supporters and

honor to have HRH Princess Lolowah Al Faisal

partners for making our initiatives and

and Dr. Haifa Jamal Al Lail at the PPWR lab.

research endeavors successful. I am also

Their visit was a a testament of their support

immensely

and recognition of our efforts. Our focus this

management for facilitating our activities and

year has been on raising awareness about

events. I look forward to a more successful

mental health and breaking the stigma of

and productive new year!

mental illnesses.

- Dr Saddiga Al Ghalib

thankful

to

Effat

University

Saudi National Day Celebration The Saudi Vision 2030 has accelerated the pace of development and progress in Saudi Arabia.

One of the guiding objectives of the Saudi Vision is to offer a “fulfilling and healthy life” to residents. The government has unveiled many programs

and

initiatives

to

achieve

this

objective. The Quality of Life Vision Realization Program was launched to promote an active lifestyle and boost participation in cultural and environmental activities. The program also aims to elevate the status of Saudi cities to some of the best in the world.

The General Entertainment Authority (GEA) calendar included more than 5,000 live events in 2008 which included live shows, stand-up comedy and family entertainment.

The National Character Enrichment Vision Realization Program was also launched to inculcate amongst the youth characteristics of

tolerance,

moderation,

perseverance,

determination, entrepreneurship, generosity, volunteering,

excellence,

hard

work

and

optimism. The efforts of the government have led to an increase in public involvement in sports, cultural events and also an increase in the spirit of volunteerism in society.

The

Positive

Research

Lab

Psychology is

and

committed

Well-being to

working

towards the achievement of the Saudi Vision . 2030. We have conducted research into and

launched

programs

regarding

societal

advancement concepts such as mindfulness program, gratitude program, employee wellbeing, motivation and school spirit. We have also launched a campaign “Al Haraka Baraka” to promote a healthy and active lifestyle in line with the Saudi Vision 2030. Our proudest achievement this semester was organising “Effat Mental Health Day” to advance mental health awareness in society and to break the stigma of mental illness.

We

proudly

National

Day

celebrated by

the

organizing

89th a

Saudi

stand-up

comedy program, art circles and also an environment drive. We distributed plants to our guests to promote a green environment and raise awareness.

Effat Mental Health Day The PPWR Lab organised the “Effat Mental Health Day “on 30th October. The theme for this

year

was”Changing

the

dialogue

–

Shedding light on depression”. Our aims for this event were: To make Effat University a better place for students, faculty and staff.

To create a safe environment at Effat University for Faculty, Staff, and Students to share their mental health concerns.

To come together to raise awareness of mental health.

The

event

featured

artworks

portraying

addiction and how recovery is possible, a mindfulness breathing session, ‘lunch and learn' session about mental health, a sound healing session, stand-up comedy and healing through storytelling. The students at Effat

The above artwork is an original piece by the talented artist Shahad Al Sonare. It depicts the dark thoughts and feelings felt by a person suffering from depression. It also depicts a glimmer of hope and a desire to be happy

where the light hits the dark engulfing University also performed an inspiring play . thoughts. Shahad also shared her personal that showed that the best and simple way to struggle with depression in hopes of helping support someone suffering from depression is others who may be going through the same. to simply be there for them.

Depression and Music therapy The day featured live music and a sound healing session. Research has shown that incorporating therapies

has

music a

with

positive

traditional effect

on

depression among patients. A clinical trial was conducted in 2006 by Sandra L. Siedliecki to research the effect music has on

“power,

pain,depression

and

disability�. The researcher observed that the group that listened to music recorded lower levels of depression, pain and disability compared to the control group.

.

Another research was conducted to determine the effect of music combined with standard therapies as opposed to just standard therapies in

working

depression

age

people

(Erkkilä,

et

suffering al.,

from

2011).

The

researchers noticed that there was higher improvement

in

depression

and

anxiety

symptoms among patients receiving standard therapies combined with music therapy. These findings indicate the constructive role music can play in therapy.

Effect of laughter therapy and humor on depression The Effat Mental Health Day programme also included stand-up comedy. Research has shown that laughter is an effective way

to

improve

depression

mood,

levels.

A

anxiety research

and was

conducted on the influence of laughter therapy on pain, depression and quality of life in elderly patients who were suffering from

osteoarthritis.

The

researchers

observed significance improvement in the experimental group at the end of a fourweek

intervention

involving

laughter

therapy (Ko & Hyun, 2013). A similar experiment was conducted to examine the effects of laughter therapy on “depression, cognition, sleep and quality of life� in the elderly. The experimental group showed considerable progress in depression levels and sleep quality (Ko & Youn, 2011).

.

Depression and culture Sarah Sultan presented her research paper that explained the effect of culture and mental health stigma on reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety. While some of the risk factors of depression, such as traumatic events, loss, gender and joblessness may be similar across cultures, the response and reaction to these factors is considerably affected by culture. Some cultures treat depression as an

exclusively

biological

issue

while

others

emphasize

the

environmental factors as well. Culture may also influence how depression manifests itself. For example, research conducted on Chinese participants showed that symptoms tend to be more physical rather than emotional or cognitive. Treatments methods may also differ based on culture. It is essential to understand the cultural context for effective diagnosis and treatment of depression (Pogosyan, 2017).

Healing through story telling Effat Mental Health day also included a healing through story telling session. The vast benefits of storytelling for people who are suffering or distressed are well known in psychotherapy

literature

(Angus

&

Greenberg,

2011;

Vanheule

&

Hauser,

2008). Storytelling has the power to heal people as they share their experiences creating a stronger sense of individual and shared realities (Pibworth, 2018). People enhance their mental health and wellbeing by sharing the stories of their struggles as they are able to receive support from and form affiliative bonds with individuals going through the same experiences (Suicidecallbackservice, 2019). A study concluded that storytelling can be used as a tool to express anger and resolve conflicts positively in the case of children.

Depressive or suicidal children can resolve their sense of loss, helplessness and desire for rescue through storytelling. This tool also useful for therapists who wish to understand and empathize with their clients (Styles & Kottman,1990).

.

Mental health treatment and support centers We invited mental health health treatment and support centers on the Effat Mental Health Day. Our aim was to make the public aware of these centers and to provide the centers an opportunity to showcase their services and programs. Some of the centers ivited were Nsight, Cure Care, Dr. Manal Kayal from IMC, Zat Center, Waad Therapy Center, ACT center and Dr. Nisreen Yacoub office. We are extremely thankful to Deeratna and Waad Therapy Center for sponsoring food and souvenirs for the event.

Green space and well being project We conducted a pilot study to investigate the effects of an indoor green space environment on the well being of students in Saudi Arabia.

This pilot study will help us analyse any shortcomings in the research method and conduct the experiment more efficiently. A total of 8 students participated in the study.

They

reported

feeling

relaxed,

calm

and

uplifted after spending 10 minutes in the green space created in the lab. They said the green environment helped them unwind and forget about using their phones.

The respondents also gave some interesting feedback. While they really liked relaxing in the green space, they did not want their regular classes set up that way. They felt that they would not be able to enjoy the benefits they felt if they got used to seeing it frequently.

Gratitude project Gratitude is the act of being thankful and appreciative of others. Research has shown that gratitude is linked with happiness and other positive emotions. At the PPWR Lab, we believe

in

expressing

gratitude

through

actions. As part of our gratitude project, every semester, we acknowledge and thank people who have supported and encouraged us on our journey. This semester we want to thank Dr, Kholoud Khateeb, Dr. Tabassum Rashid, Ms. Amirah Al Azzah and Mr. Kaleemullah by giving them a small token of our appreciation.

Positive Psychology initiatives One of our objectives is to acknowledge and encourage initiatives by members of society that align with our mission and the Saudi 2030 vision. Two such initiatives are the Bahja Initiative and positivepsych.

Bahja Initiative

Madiha is the owner and founder of Bahja Gardens. Madiha joined her passion for psychology and plants to create Bahja. She has an online course where she teaches the Fundamentals of Sustainable Gardening.

She has created Bahja so she can teach more people and extend her passion to others, as well as plant local trees to save the local environment.Bahja is a Saudi initiative that works to raise awareness about planting local trees and urban gardening in Jeddah through a variety of

projects.

Its

projects

include

workshops,

events,

curriculum

development, garden experiences, and tree-planting campaigns. Currently Bahja is organizing a tree planting campaign with other partners, minding the local environment. Bahja plays an active role in the PPWR Lab in Effat University to conduct research to study influence of plants on human

Madiha Khayat

behavior. Bahja also believes in collaborations. Therefore with every project, Bahja brings together partners where each is strong in their field and gives back to the community and environment in a "green" way.

@positivepsych "As a clinical psychology graduate, I am aiming to raise awareness about mental health in my society and introduce people to positive psychology. The point of this calendar is to shed light on the importance of mental health protective factors.

We usually wait until we start struggling in order to take action.

But why do we wait? Why don’t we live a mentally healthy lifestyle from the beginning? One that would increase our life satisfaction, strengthen our resilience and make us less prone to struggling with mental illness. This calendar provides you with simple tasks that have been scientifically proven to boost happiness and decrease negative emotions. Each month in the calendar focuses on a protective factor. According to positive psychology: gratitude, connecting with people and nature, practicing mindfulness are all protective factors and mood boosters".

Tala Ghamri

Research Studies The effects of Culture and Stigma on Reporting Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety: Saudi Arabian vs American College Students ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of culture and mental health stigma on reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety. A total of 259 Saudi Arabian and 131 American college aged students

studying

in

the

United

States

were

given

online

questionnaires to assess: 1) level of collectivism; 2) mental health stigma; 3) depression; 4) anxiety; and 5) and demographic information.

It was observed that Saudi students scored higher on collectivism than American students. However, there was not a significant difference in self-stigma levels for Saudi vs. Americans.

Sarah Sultan

The results also indicated that for both samples there was a significant negative correlation between collectivism and mental health self-stigma. There was no significant negative relationship between collectivism and depression. It was also observed that collectivism did not predict depression and anxiety in either population. It was predicted that mental health selfstigma would mediate the relationship between collectivism and depression, and collectivism and anxiety for both population. Results indicated statistically significant mediation effects of self-stigma for both populations.

Accident Analysis: Alton Towers Smiler through a Socio-Technical Systems Lens.

- Rawaa Jonaid.

ABSTRACT This research highlights the importance of taking a systems approach, considering the increase of technological complexity of fairground rides. The tragic aftermath of many theme park accidents is proposed to be more complex than what meets the views of a variety newspaper headlines and accident investigations. The research adopted a socio-technical systems thinking based analysis and analyzed the Alton Towers fatal ‘Smiler’ crash to explore these aspects through the use of secondary data resources and extending it with expert interviews. The findings shed light on deeper issues that build up and form such a major accident. Potential multiple sources of the crash were considered and investigated. The findings debunked the notion of single-cause mind sets in regards to Alton Towers crash case, and suggested that isolating technology and human operators indicated a flawed overall system design that leads to problematic procedures with interrelated other factors of the system. It supports the systems approach in accident analysis and revealed many contributing factors and cross system issues that should be taken into consideration for future research and practitioners.

Join us!

The Lab family!

You can Join our team of contributors to work on

Our dynamic family :

content development or donate to the development of the lab. Please follow the given link to learn

Dr Saddiga AlGhalib, Afeefah Yahya, Adeelah Yahya, Al Areen Aljaed,

more! https://www.effatuniversity.edu.sa/English/Researc h/Research-Labs/Positive-Psychology/Pages/JoinNow.aspx

AlBatoul Al Shaiban, Bashayer khalifah, Fatemah Peeran, Lujain Faqerah, Madiha Khayat, Maryam Patel, Rana Dahlawi, Sarah Sultan, Shaden Al Khalifah, Shahad Al Sonare, Syeda Zarlish

For inquiries regarding Positive Psychology & Well being Research Lab, please contact us on Email: saddiga@gmail.com ppwresearchlab@gmail.com PPWRL@effatuniversity.edu.sa Tel - +(966) 54 077 7731 Address: College of Engineering, 324. Effat University, Jeddah 21478 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Design and Editing - Adeelah YahyaÂ

Positive.Inspiring.Happiness

PPW Research Lab

@WellbeingJeddah