If the mental health of every person suffering from mental illness is paid attention to and treated, then he can become a useful person in his home and society. Good physical and mental health is for people to live a purposeful life. It is very important for people of all ages to be physically, mentally, socially and spiritually fit for a healthy and peaceful life with good relationships. Mental disorders are mainly caused by chemical changes in the brain and genetic influences. These views were expressed by Managing Director of Karachi Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Syed Abdul Rehman in his address on World Mental Health Day.He told that 25% of population is affected by mental disorders which means that every 1 in 4 individuals is suffering from some mental illness.Although everyone becomes the victim of social problems,but those who are more affected cannot perform routine tasks and sometimes their families are also unaware of their mental state. Some of them commit suicide.This year’s theme for World Mental Health Day is:
It is time to Prioritize Mental Health in the workplace
About 60% of our population is attached with some form of organization or personal business and spends almost half of their day at work.If they do not get mental satisfaction and good working environment at the workplace, there are strong chances that sooner or later they will suffer from some mental illness or problem. This is not only a problem for these people, it’s also a huge burden on our economy.According to an estimate ,only Depression and anxiety illnesses alone are the cause of $1 trillion loss to world’s economy every year.
In developing countries like us, where the awareness about psychological diseases is negligible,such people are a big burden on the structure of the economy. It is time we create awareness of mental health among the business owners and people.
People’s concepts and ideas about mental illness are so intense that if someone suffers from mental illness, they prefer to go to fake hakims, quacks and scholars instead of contacting an expert psychiatrist or a doctor. It is common observation that the mentally ill person is considered crazy or obsessive. 26.2% of those who come for treatment are of depression, 13% of depression-maina disorder and 5% of anxiety and panic attacks and 4.3% of obsessive-compulsive disorder and 15% of schizophrenia and 13.1 percent of sexual psychological diseases. 2,300 people die every year due to mental illness in Pakistan. While 3,450 people die annually due to drug addiction.This number does not include the number of suicides.
Data published on the website (Our World in Data):
They said that World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH)was established 75 years ago in 1948. Its members are present in more than 150 countries.The purpose of establishing this organization is to provide complete awareness to the world regarding mental illness and its preventive measures. A good physician not only diagnoses the disease but he also provides assistance to restore the self confidence and self esteem in a person.
The speaker said that there are probably 500 to 600 mental health specialists in the country at the moment, this number is insufficient for a population of 230 million.He said that those who contact a psychiatrist immediately in mental illness, they get better, but those who delay cause trouble for the family and society. The family members of the patient should also cooperate with doctors by informing the doctor about patients’s complete condition and feeding the patient medicines on time..
Sindh Mental Act is present to address mental health issues but it needs to be amended.
