KARACHI: Cases of suicide on the rise in Pakistan: Mental Health Day observed
KARACHI, Oct 10: Some 37 per cent of a million global suicides occur in India and China. This was revealed at a seminar on
‘building awareness: reducing risk, mental illness and suicide’, was organised by the Mental Health Research and Development Forum (MHRDF) at Aga Khan University here to mark World Mental Health Day.
Discussing the philosophical and psychiatric dimensions of suicide, Prof Manzoor Ahmed, Rector of International Islamic University, Islamabad, recounted the history of philosophical thought about the question of suicide.
Describing them as complex questions, he said suicide was a cluster concept, which could not be treated separately from the social and psychological factors compelling a person to contemplate this act.
He explained that the Greco-Roman concept of suicide was attached with honour. Then the scholastic philosophy prevailed for a millennium, which deemed suicide to be a cowardly act and declared that a person's life is God's gift and a person has no right to end it, he added, saying that the modern philosophy questions this stringent instruction and suggested that all cases should be treated individually.
The chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the AKU, Prof Murad Moosa Khan, gave an overview of the global situation of suicide.
He disclosed that the number of younger people committing suicide was rising over the years, which poses the problem of most productive collective years being lost.
“There were a million deaths due to suicide last year, out of which 37 per cent occurred in India and China”, he informed adding that South Asia accounted for 11 per cent of the total deaths, despite a lack of proper data.
Talking on rising trend of committing suicide in Pakistan, Mr Moosa said gradually rising rate of suicide in Pakistan over the last few years was compelling evidence.
The upward trend has been very dramatic with almost 3,000 cases of suicide being reported in 2004 nationally. It was also well-known that for every suicide there were at least another 10 to 20 suicide attempts, which means there may be 30,000 to 60,000 cases of attempted suicide in Pakistan, he added.
Earlier, Dr Badar Sabir Ali opened the proceedings by calling for increasing awareness and building understanding to give new hope to those suffering from mental health issues.
Meanwhile, to mark the World Mental Health Day, a seminar was organised by the Department of Psychology, University of Karachi, at the campus on Tuesday.
The topic of the day-long moot was ‘Building awareness, reducing risk mental illness and suicide’. The KU vice-chancellor, Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, was the chief guest on the occasion.
In his speech, he highlighted the significance of mental health and maintained that because of the delay in realising the significance of this aspect there was a lack of awareness on this count in our society.
Dr Pirzada was of the view that if the mental ailments remained undiagnosed they might assume a serious proportion and the psycho-medical researches provided evidence that the more chronic the condition of a person the lesser the chances of recovery.
The welcome address was presented by Rakhshanda Talat Hussain, chairperson of the Department of Psychology, KU.
Dr Razaur Rehman of the Dow Medical College highlighted the ‘state of mental health services in Pakistan’ and spoke about the present condition of awareness concerning mental illness, mental institutions and hospitals.
Dr Shagufta Shahzadi of the Department of Special Education discussed issues and concerns related to mental illness symptoms.
She also pointed out that mental disorders affected not only the individual but the entire surrounding community.Dr Robina Kidwai of the Pakistan Association of Mental Health spoke on suicide, causes, prevention and how to deal with a suicidal person.
Dr Musarrat Hussain of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre presented biological basis of awareness and risk reduction.
He focused on the physiological elements of suicide, concepts prevention protection and rehabilitations.
Dr Prof Wasim concluded that both psychologists and psychiatrists should work hand in hand. He also highlighted the role of religion in improving the quality of life. The efforts of the program coordinator, Farah Iqbal, were highly lauded.—PPI/APP
KARACHI, Oct 10: Some 37 per cent of a million global suicides occur in India and China. This was revealed at a seminar on
