PESHAWAR: Experts at a seminar here on Wednesday complained about the growing incidence of mental health disorders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and blamed it on gender disparities, economic, emotional and social injustices, and lack of access to health and education facilities among the population.

They called for the ‘people-friendly’ policies to cope with the alarming situation.

The experts demanded establishment of a separate ward for children to provide specialised treatment to children living with psychiatric problems.

They also urged the government to create geriatric wards to cater to the needs of elderly people.

“Fifty percent of the children in the province suffer from mental health problems and therefore, we need to develop sub-specialties in psychiatry to deal with the disturbing situation,” Pakistan Psychiatric Society president Prof Syed Mohammad Sultan told the seminar held here in connection with the International Mental Health Day.

Blame situation on gender disparities, socioeconomic injustices, poor health facilities

Prof Sultan, who heads the psychiatry department at the Khyber Teaching Hospital, said children, the country’s future, suffered from various psychiatric disorders but there were only three child psychiatry departments in the country.

“Unfortunately, our province has no child psychiatry department at hospitals. We have planned to set up one such department at the KTH to treat children suffering from psychiatric problems at early stage and prevent their minor ailments from snowballing into chronic health issues,” he said.

Prof Sultan said the prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression was 34 per cent in general population with dementia, schizophrenia and mania as main problems.

HPWS executive director and psychiatrist Dr Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the people should change attitude towards mental illness and associated taboos, while patients of those problems should be allowed to consult doctors freely.

He said the causative agents for mental illness could be genetic and biological and linked to behaviour of the community towards crimes like honour killing, but efforts for peace served as shield against mental ailments.

“Healthy interaction and good environment lead to peace of mind, while abuses, bias, prejudices, discrimination, disasters, negative attitudes tend to increase psychiatric disorders,” he said.

The psychiatrist said promotion of peace could be achieved when policymakers made programme for welfare of the disadvantaged people.

He said awareness at the community level of their causes helped overcome mental disorders. “Economic stability and peace in the neighbourhoods and affordability to purchase services keep the people away from mental problems,” he said.

Mr. Hussain said dynamic interaction was missing at the community level, which isolated people with the poor people being the worst-hit.

He warned the effects of mental ailments were dangerous if their patients were left untreated.

The psychiatrist said global economic recession, regional armed conflicts, immigration of population due to terrorism and unrest were among other factors causing such diseases to grow.

Psychiatrist Dr Mir Alam Khan said a multi-pronged strategy, involving psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and enhancement of funds for medicines for mental patients were required to safeguard people from poor-specific ailments.

Local nazim Sabz Ali, scholar Mufti Ghulamur Rehman and clinical psychologists Syed Zainab Bibi, Rabia Basri and Faiza Bano also spoke about mental health and urged the government, professionals and people to make joint efforts against mental problems.

Published in Dawn October 20th, 2016