IT seems to me and my fellow psychiatrists, associated with British Pakistani Psychiatrists Association, how ill-informed Pakistan’s Supreme Court is about mental illnesses.

The court has failed to recognise schizophrenia as a mental illness and stated that it is a curable disease.

There is extensive evidence to suggest that schizophrenia is a severe and enduring mental illness.

This evidence includes the definitions of the illness within the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) produced by the World Health Organisation and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association.

A lack of understanding about schizophrenia means many patients don’t get the support and treatment they need. It’s a chronic remitting relapsing illness. Many people recover from it, although they may have periods when symptoms return, others continue to suffer.

Its causes are not fully understood and there is no cure for it. However, medications and talking therapies can help manage the condition and people can live in the community and work.

Suffering from schizophrenia does not necessarily exempt the person from being prosecuted, but it does need careful consideration by the legal system about illness and its association with criminality.

What is most important is that a court should seek the opinion of a psychiatrist to evaluate the mental state and capacity of the individual at the time of the index offence. This will help safeguard the human rights of the people suffering from mental health problems and help the court reach a fair verdict.

A comparison to British legislation could be drawn, where dedicated legislation has regulated the treatment of mentally ill offenders by the court as far back as 1890.

It saddens us that in this day and age the field of psychiatry and social healthcare policies and laws are much neglected in Pakistan.

This is especially true when it comes to dealing with legal affairs and safeguarding human rights of people suffering from mental illnesses.

As a group of professionals with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, we call for the revision of the court’s decision. We also call for the review of the current legislation, governing the treatment of mentally ill offenders in Pakistan.

Dr Rashid Khan

On behalf of British Pakistani Psychiatrists Association, UK

Published in Dawn October 27th, 2016