Broadcast 23 March on Iranian state satellite TV (IRINN)

Part 1

Part 2

In the early evenings (Iran time) IRINN news usually has an interview with a health professional who offers advice on diet, exercise or some other aspect of personal care.

Today's subject was "The Effect of Family Relations on Psychological Health," with guest Dr. Hossein Ibrahimi-Moqadam, a psychologist, family counselor and university faculty member.

Iranians are tribalistic people, who do not generally like being alone or living the solitary life. This helps explain how elected and non-elected government leaders and clerics in Iran are able to herd the population and control public thinking so effectively, using an orthodox playbook of codes and symbols along with religious and political narratives.

In this program a health professional discussed his own and other studies that support the idea that being alone or without social skills is bad for one's health.

This interview came in the midst of the traditional ten days of Iranian New Year Observances, when it is considered important to exchange visits with friends and family. The announcer said at the beginning that this practice has recently been on the wane and that the program would show how the tradition can help with the development of social skills.

Asked how being with a group affects one's temperament and disposition, Ibrahimi-Moqadam referred to a series of studies that attempted to isolate factors such as money, health and family relations to examine their effects on the well being of the subjects.

He observed that if an individual is deprived of money, health or family relations, he feels unhappy. He said if the subjects get their money and health back and correct their social activities, they do not necessarily feel happy unless they have good social relations. He said studies show that good social relations have a strong effect on psychological and even physical health, and that people who can have good family relations and can properly exchange visits with their kin are the ones who are in the best physical health.

Why is this so? It is because our lives are filled with stress which is sometimes harmful; prolonged exposure to day-to-day strees will gradually become a physical burden and corrupt one's outlook.

People who have a good sense of support and feel that others are beside them usualy have fewer problems. Ibrahimi-Moqadam cited a study of men who have lost their wives and concentrated their social relations on the social events of the New Year. The studies found fewer deaths among those who properly conducted the exchanges of visits, while those who lived solitary lives of isolation had higher rates of illness.

He cited a study of mice who were injected with cancerous cells. Some of the mice were kept in solitary cells, while others were kept with groups of other mice. All other factors such as climate and nutrition were the same for both groups. The study found that the mouse who were in a group with other mice lived much longer than the ones who were kept in isolation.

Ibrahimi-Moqadam concluded based on this that people who are in regular contact with other people will live 10-15 years longer than the ones who spend their time alone.

The announcer asked Ibrahimi-Moqadam about the effect of family relations according to today's science. Ibrahimi-Moqadam said this can be considered from several perspectives. He said social support, where the individual feels that he is not alone in the situations he is in, has a great effect.

He noted that for many viewers outside Iran general conditions are not bad, but if someone living abroad has lost a loved one the social pressure he experiences is much greater. However if someone loses a loved one in his own country others will surround him with sympathy and condolences and he will feel that he is not alone.

This is one of the effects of family relations. He cited the example of an individual who was alone in a boat on the Atlantic Ocean for 58 days until he was finally rescued. When asked what bothered him most, he said it was the fact that he had no one to talk to about his pain.

The announcer asked Ibrahimi-Moqadam who are the people who benefit most from family relations in improving their social relations. Without really answering this question, he said one should look at the people who form good family relations and those who do not, and he discussed some of the reasons for not doing so, including fear and a lack of social skills.

He then described some of the attributes of effective social skills and some of the findings by university researchers about these attributes.

The announcer asked Ibrahimi-Moqadam what people should do to increase their interest in exchanging visits and socializing.

Without recommending what to do to increase an interest in doing this, Ibrahimi-Moqadam listed effective attributes to employ when exchanging visits. He said successful exchanges of visits are made when people speak simply, openly and easily without pursuing objectives in what they say to people. He said it is not good to give advice because most people are not looking for advice. People prefer a calm smiling disposition, which is more important than what is said. This is more effective than giving advice, and when visiting a sick person, this conveys energy and peace more effectively than fear and anxiety.

He summarized by saying that a good relationship is created by avoiding negative subjects and creating empathy, conversing and being calm and happy.

When the announcer asked what factors will tend to make individuals disinterested in socializing, Ibrahimi-Moqadam said these might include social and individual factors. The individual factors might be in people who overeat, watch too much television, always want to keep to themselves or are addicted to work. Others may be depressed or feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are unable to establish social relations because they do not have a specific disposition.