03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 2: Patients suffering from serious physical ailments commonly face mental disorders like depression as well. Conversely speaking, people suffering from mental problems are more susceptible to physical disorders as compared to those who do not.

This was observed at a roundtable discussion - titled "The relationship between physical and mental health: Co-occurring disorders" - which was held by the Pakistan Association for Mental Health (PAMH) here on Saturday.

Some 40 experts from various disciplines of medical science participated in the discussion and described the relationship between their area of expertise and mental ailments. It was noted that depression and anxiety disorders represented the most common psychiatric illnesses affecting the people suffering from various physical disorders.

The experts who took part in the discussion included Prof Azhar M. Farooqui, Dr Fatema Jawad, Dr Badar Siddiqui, Prof Sadiqua N. Jafarey, Dr Abdullah Manghi and Dr Abdul Mujeeb. Prof Haroon Ahmed moderated the discussion.

It was observed that general practitioners commonly prescribed anti-depressants. Therefore, all the GPs should be imparted basic training in psychiatric pharmacology.

After the event, Prof Haroon Ahmed told a group of journalists that the general practitioners, commonly saw patients suffering from mental problems, including depression and schizophrenia. He said up to 30 per cent of the patients going to GPs actually had mental problems, according to a survey.

Psychiatric problems, he said, represented high-prevalence but low-priority ailments in Pakistan. And the stigma attached to such problems made it difficult for the people facing them to discuss the same openly.

Answering a question, Prof Ahmed said up to 25 per cent of the patients commonly complained of fatigue, which was among the first symptoms of depression. "Gastric problems were also tell-tale signs of mental problems," said Prof Ahmed.

"However, instead of properly excluding the possibility of mental disorders in such cases, the doctors try to treat fatigue and gastric problems. They simply ignore that mental disorders may be responsible for the symptoms."

In response to another question, he said in Pakistan every fifth household in the country had one member with a mental disorder. "And in Karachi one in every two families has this problem."

Prof Ahmed said more than 10 years ago some 3,000 people were treated by the PAMH during the mental health week. "But in recent years, we have been treating 10,000 people during the week."

The increase in the number of people treated was due to rising incidence of mental disorders, increase in awareness and due to the fact that patients were treated free of cost, he said.

President of the PAMH said psychiatry was treated as a separate subject, having an examination, in the MBBS programmes throughout the world. "However, in Pakistan this is not so."

Since the mid-70s, he said, the PAMH had been advocating the introduction of separate examination in this discipline at the undergraduate level of medical education. He urged the journalists to join hands with him in this 'cause'.

Dr Abdullah Manghi, Dr Uzma Ambareen, Dr Rubina, Dr Wasif Ali and Dr Salamat Kamal were also present at the news briefing.