Human beings seem to be genetically predisposed to take risks in the hope of reward, but in gambling the risks often significantly outweigh the rewards. Should societies and governments attempt to regulate gambling, and how? Two papers in this month's issue of BJPsych International discuss problem gambling in Nigeria and in Malaysia, and how government and society address it.

Stigma and alienation are suffered by many individuals with mental health disorders, in societies around the world. Rejection is all the more common among those who have intellectual disabilities or who are from ethnic minorities. In this issue, three papers consider the suffering experienced by patients with vulnerabilities that militate against their being in receipt of the psychiatric care they assuredly deserve.

This month's issue of BJPsych International focuses on the Middle East, with papers on psychiatric care in conflict zones, the persistence of institutionalisation in Arab countries, service delivery in Iraq, improved media attitudes towards mental illness in Qatar and integration of mental health services into primary care in that country.

This month's issue of BJPsych International focuses on Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world and geographically vulnerable to a wide range of natural disasters. Mental health has been deteriorating since the COVID-19 crisis, but few psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are available to manage the consequences.

The Arab world has struggled with conflict and political turmoil for several decades, rendering its already underdeveloped mental healthcare system unable to serve the psychiatric needs of victims of violence and trauma, with consequences that extend far beyond the cessation of hostilities. This role has become incumbent on international relief agencies, which have expanded mental health programmes in countries of conflict and refuge. Although their intervention has overall been positive, their mission is usually short term, leaving countries unable to maintain these advantages when the funding ends. The authors advocate for a sustainable framework that emphasises a larger role for regional and local actors. Expertise that is culturally and socially grounded could take the initiative in research, training and deployment in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, allowing for comprehensive development of the mental health sector.

Mental health is a significant factor for a sound and productive life; nevertheless, mental disorders do not often receive adequate research attention and are not addressed as a serious public health issue in countries such as Bangladesh. Part 1 of this two-part profile describes the current situation of mental health in Bangladesh in its wider sociocultural context, outlining existing policies and highlighting mental illness as a neglected healthcare problem in the country using a narrative synthesis method. The prevalence of mental disorders is very high and augmented in nature among different population groups in Bangladesh. A lack of public mental health facilities, scarcity of skilled mental health professionals, insufficient financial resource distribution, inadequately stewarded mental health policies and stigma contribute to making current mental healthcare significantly inadequate in Bangladesh. The country has few community care facilities for psychiatric patients. Furthermore, the current mental health expenditure by the Bangladeshi government is only 0.44% of the total health budget. Less than 0.11% of the population has access to free essential psychotropic medications.

People with DSM-5 intellectual disability/intellectual developmental disorder (ID/IDD) or ICD-11 disorders of intellectual development (DID) have multiple healthcare needs, but in many countries these needs are neither recognised nor managed effectively. This paper discusses the negative impact that stigma, discrimination and social exclusion have on the identification and care of persons with ID/IDD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It also reviews different models of care for children, adolescents and adults. In discussing some initiatives in LMICs the emphasis is on early diagnosis, with success in providing locally sourced care for affected people and their families. This is where the medical, social and rights-based models of care intersect and is a premise of the person-centred biopsychosocial framework of the World Psychiatric Association's Presidential Action Plan 2020–2023. The plan invites psychiatrists to take a lead in changing the culture of care, as well as medical education, clinical training and research, with a renewed emphasis on workforce integration and service development in terms of community-based rehabilitation strategies.

Gambling, legal and illegal, is popular in Nigeria. Lack of stringent regulation and enforcement, coupled with the rise in online gambling opportunities, has resulted in increased gambling-related harm. There needs to be a multipronged public health strategy to address the harms of gambling and for this the government, gambling industry, policy makers and academic experts need to engage in a meaningful debate.

Many forms of gambling are legal and popular in Malaysia. Despite this, in Malaysia, research into gambling is limited and there is no coherent strategy to tackle gambling-related harms. This paper summarises the gambling landscape of Malaysia, law governing gambling and research done so far and gives some recommendations on the way forward.

This article briefly assesses the historical trajectory of psychiatric institutions in the Middle East. It underlines a key observation: the persistence and expansion of psychiatric institutionalisation, specifically in the Arab world. In contrast to the deinstitutionalisation that eventually closed large psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s, notably in Europe and North America, psychiatric hospitals have continued to grow in size in the Arab world. This absence of deinstitutionalisation marks a major departure from how psychiatry developed in the West, which is worth reflecting on if we are to understand the current crumbling infrastructure of in-patient psychiatric facilities in the Arab region.

This is the second of a two-part profile on mental healthcare in Bangladesh. It describes the state of mental health research in the country and presents a set of priorities for addressing improvements to the fundamental gaps in mental healthcare highlighted in part 1. Focus on building infrastructure for public mental health facilities, training skilled mental health professionals, adequate distribution of financial resources and addressing stigma are all priorities that will contribute to significantly improving mental healthcare in Bangladesh.

The Roma people are one of the most unknown and interesting nations in Europe. Although they are severely marginalised within European societies, they have greatly influenced European culture. Despite this fact, there is a deep prejudice against them. In the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, a significant proportion of the population are Roma. Their marginalisation leads to many problems and also affects their mental health. Their psychopathological manifestations differ from the majority population. They express more somatic complaints and higher overall stress in a histrionic background. The main obstacles regarding their mental health issues and treatment appear to be the following: gender inequality, illiteracy and lack of cultural sensitivity in healthcare system. Although all of these obstacles must be removed, some are easier to remove than others. Cultural sensitivity could be applied by using more culturally sensitive diagnostic tools, improving overall training for mental health professionals and treating Roma wherever they seek help, because they often have a nomadic style of living. Telemedicine can be quite useful in serving this goal. Improving their educational status and addressing gender inequalities issues, on the other hand, are more difficult and long-term goals.

During a visit to Baghdad, I was able to visit several key centres in Iraqi psychiatry: the Ministry of Health, Baghdad General Hospital, Ibn Rushd Hospital and Al Rashad Hospital. This was my first experience of mental healthcare outside England, and it left me with a range of discussions and experiences to reflect on. I hope that this article offers a fair flavour of Iraqi psychiatry from the perspective of a UK-trained doctor.

Increasing migration and the resultant multiculturalism in Greek society has highlighted the importance of studying the role of school ethnic composition in bullying and peer victimisation, not least because ethnic minority students involved in bullying behaviours seem to experience high levels of internalising and externalising problems. It is imperative that schools work towards ensuring a safe environment for all students. This can be achieved through the implementation of policies that facilitate positive social interactions and address issues of bias-based bullying, thus contributing to social justice. This article examines school bullying and related policies in Greece in the context of increasing diversity and reviews their evolution in the past decade.

When prolonged social withdrawal was first described in Japan as ‘hikikomori’, many studies examining its etiology suggested it to be related to factors unique to Japan and thus a culture-bound syndrome. However, existing research has suffered from a lack of standardised definitions, impeding comparability between studies. We summarise existing research and discuss its relevance to psychiatric practice today.

Mental health problems are almost ignored in Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The lack of overall health literacy and human resources due to an ineffectively updated legal and regulatory framework, coupled with very limited but misused budget allocation, are some of the factors responsible for this. The country's Constitution recognises the importance of public health and stipulates the improvement of public health as an important primary duty of the state. Nevertheless, it is often compromised or neglected in favour of other socioeconomic development priorities. The Lunacy Act 1912 was recently repealed and substituted by the Mental Health Act 2018 to fill in various gaps in mental health law. This is a welcome development, but there remain limitations and scope for further improvement. We highlight some important provisions of this newly enacted law, identify some limitations and propose some issues for consideration in future policy reform.

The transition from trainee early career psychiatrist (ECP) to independent practitioner can be challenging. Upon completion of training in well-equipped academic settings, an ECP from Myanmar is required to serve in a divisional hospital for at least 3 years. Significant challenges are faced by ECPs practising solo in divisional hospitals, including inexperience in administrative aspects, lack of future-proof training, scarcity of resources and facilities, struggles in the provision of holistic biopsychosocial treatment, work–life imbalance, and limited career advancement and access to continuous training. The solutions tried thus far include the incorporation of information and communication technology in training, gathering support and distant supervision from both local and international settings, and task shifting. Bigger challenges are often rewarded by faster growth, and difficult times stimulate creative solutions. The sacrifice of these solo ECPs has significantly improved the mental health service of Myanmar district regions.

This study provides an overview of the extent, nature and quality of reporting on mental health compared with physical health in Qatari newspapers. We analysed 1274 news reports from daily newspapers in Qatar. The majority of the articles provided general information and were either positive or neutral in tone, reporting purely on physical health matters. A small proportion made associations with violence or reported on suicide or substance use. Our results highlight the underrepresentation of mental health in Qatari newspapers. A collaboration between media and health professionals is recommended to improve reporting on mental health.

University students are in transition to adulthood and face multiple challenges that may lead to suicide. They are reported to have a higher risk of suicide by the World Health Organization. As there is no national suicide database in Uganda, we analysed student suicide using the press/media reports of suicides published between 2010 and 2020. A total of deaths by 23 suicide were identified: 19 were males, relationship problems were the main suicide reason (n = 6) and hanging was the most frequently used suicide method (n = 7). A strategic intervention to tackle suicide risk among university students is warranted.

In this narrative review we consider what is known about mental health conditions in the prison system in Bangladesh and describe the current provision of mental health services for prisoners with mental health needs. We contextualise this within the literature on mental health conditions in correctional settings in the wider sub-continental region and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) more broadly. We augment findings from the literature with information from unstructured interviews with local experts, and offer recommendations for research, policy and practice.