ID :
379037
Wed, 09/02/2015 - 06:04
Auther :

TH Counselling Centres Help Malaysian Haj Pilgrims Handle Emotions

From Mohd Shukri Ishak MAKKAH, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Other than providing guidance to haj pilgrims about activities during the pilgrimage, Tabung Haji (TH, the Malaysian haj pilgrims fund board) also provides counseling services to Malaysians to strengthen their emotions in facing the challenges in the Holy Land. Manager of the TH Counseling Centre in Makkah, Sharifah Rahanah Wan Drahman said the centre gave briefings and visited the pilgrims at their dwellings to identify emotional problems which may affect their ability to adjust to life in the Holy Land. Among the cases of emotional disturbance affecting pilgrims were depression resulting from them missing their families back home, the inability to get along with their roommates in the Holy Land as well as personal problems brought to the Holy Land, which affected their focus on the haj. She added that the briefings and visits enabled the centre's four counselors to get close to the pilgrims in small groups to identify their problems. "At the same time, the pilgrims can also get one-on-one counseling by going to the centre or contacting it at telephone number 012-5706600," she told reporters here Tuesday. She said most cases were related to the emotional problems between married couples as they were not staying together but had to share the accommodations with other pilgrims. "Their failure to handle their emotions made them depressed, causing them to lose interest in daily activities like going to the mosque, having a loss of appetite and difficulty in sleeping," she said. She added that cases of emotional disturbance were also reported by roommates when some pilgrims displayed strange behaviour. "The counselors will provide assistance through face-to-face counseling with the affected pilgrims and this process will be repeated until the pilgrim is stable. God willing, any problem can be resolved," she said. --BERNAMA

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