Psychiatry in Algeria

Abstract

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the development of psychiatry in the Arab countries. Several reports have dealt with psychiatric problems in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (Al-Issa & Al-Issa, 1970; Kline, 1963; Dubovsky, 1983). Two general reviews have also dealt with major psychiatric research in the Arab Middle East (El-Islam, 1982; Racy, 1970). However, the countries surveyed have been under British and American influence and tend to follow the Anglo-Saxon psychiatric model. Little attention has been given to North African Arab countries which follow the French and franco-phone approach to psychiatry.