Pakistani Youth is increasingly becoming more vulnerable to stress and anxiety. Life will be smooth and balanced only when physical and mental health is in harmony. The disturbed mental health of humans leads to suicide, drug addiction, mobile habituation, abnormal behaviour and murders. Mental health comprises our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects our thinking, feelings, perception of the world around us and our actions.
In Pakistan, a nation with over 241.5 million people, mental health issues are frequently shrouded in shame and silence. Despite affecting a significant portion of the population, these issues often remain unaddressed and unresolved. Statistics tell us that 60.9% of the population in Pakistan comprises those under 18 to 25 years of age. There is an alarming increase of mental health problems among the young population. And yet this is sadly the most neglected area in the healthcare field.
In Pakistan, anxiety is the eighth most common health problem that causes disability, whereas depression accounts for 40.6% of the total disease burden for mental illnesses. What is ironic is that depression is a disorder that can be reliably diagnosed and treated in primary care. But for that to happen, we would need access to qualified practitioners.The ratio of psychiatrist to patient is shocking. We have an only about 300 trained psychiatrists practice here. That means there is roughly one psychiatrist available per half-million people.
Perceptions play a major role in addressing this problem. People with mental illness are seen as violent, look different from others and are believed to never get better. Such misleading stereotypes impact these people’s struggle to cope with their condition. Suicides are a big part of mental health. One of the leading authorities in this field, Dr. Ms Sarah Ahmad terms suicide a major public health problem in Pakistan. In an interview, she said that despite the high numbers, suicide prevention is not a government priority. The intensity of this growing problem can also be understood by looking at the fact that limited research has been carried out at the national level in the sector of youth mental disorders.
According to WHO, the outgrowth of mental health problems has reached a dangerous level. Economic pressure and loneliness are two important factors for suicides in the youth. All over the world, suicide is one of the three leading causes of death along with Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdose. Pakistan is no exception.Even when patients fighting something as common as depression or anxiety recognise their symptoms, overcome the stigma, gain the support of their families and start looking for medical help, there simply isn’t much help to be had.
The first step towards tackling a problem is to recognize it. It is time we take mental health more seriously. Mental disorders represent a considerable economic burden, but existing estimates are conservative as they do not consider long-term impacts or the full range of conditions. Modelling studies could be employed covering longer time periods and more conditions. Clear distinctions should be reported between out-of-pocket and health system costs, as well as between mental health service-specific and physical health-related costs.
