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Mood altering drugs like Prozac are freely available in the Kingdom. Kimberley Mccosker
The expat blues
Sat, 20 June 2015
Brent Crane
While foreigners generally enjoy a lifestyle in the Kingdom far better than they would at home – and far, far better than most Cambodians – loneliness, dislocation and culture shock still all take their toll.
David didn’t feel depressed when he relocated to Cambodia from Italy in 2012, though he had suffered from the illness in the past. It wasn’t until a year after the “expat honeymoon†stage that the clouds began to form again.
“You lose interest in everything. You become less active – a lack of will to do anything or accomplish your goals. Basically, you just let life go by. That’s what happened,†he said.
The 29-year-old, who asked to use a pseudonym for this article, sought out addictive activities to “fill the gap that was left†– cigarettes, sex, online social networks and gaming.
“I could deal with it, but I didn’t want to. I could live almost a normal life, but I was aware it wasn’t life at its full potential. And that’s what bugged me. That’s when I decided to see a therapist.â€
David is just one of many expatriates dealing with depression in the Kingdom. Listed by the World Health Organization as “the leading cause of disability worldwide†with an estimated 350 million impaired, depression is one of humanity’s most pervasive and least understood illnesses.
Among people living abroad, it is strikingly common. According to a joint study on the prevalence of mental disorders among US expats conducted by the Truman Group and Chestnut Global Partners in 2012, those living in a foreign country were 2.5 times more likely to be suffering from a mental ailment such as depression or anxiety than their countrymen living at home.