Cairo - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any particular mental health issues that tend to crop up at post, such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (winter blues)?
Cairo is large and busy post with lots of visitors (CODELs always come on holiday weekends) and direct hires can work long hours. I think it’s easy for people, especially who live in leased housing or without natural affinity groups, to feel very isolated. Cairo isn’t easy to navigate, every rule/policy/store opening hours is inconsistent, etc. It’s wearying. The CLO has previously been super-active, but of the four CLO positions, all but one will be vacant starting this summer and with the hiring freeze, it’s hard to know when they will be replaced. There are mission-wide chat groups for people to connect, along with affinity clubs. - May 2025
It's almost always sunny. - Mar 2023
It's a temperate climate, so it's really the pollution that keeps people inside in the winter and the heat during the summer. I have not seen Seasonal Affective Disorder be an issue. - Aug 2022
Some people deal with anxiety from all the people and noise. The city is full to the brim with people and there is noise 24 hours a day with honking horns and emergency vehicle noise. - Dec 2021
I don't think so. - Jun 2018
Fortunately, it's sunny almost every day in Cairo. It does rain 2-3 times per year, usually in October/November. - Sep 2017
