PESHAWAR, May 17: Speakers at a one-day seminar urged the doctors to take into account the cultural environment when treating people suffering from depression. "Local customs, religion, beliefs and poverty are responsible for the increasing stances of depression in the NWFP and the doctors could easily diagnose and offer treatment to these patients by considering these factors," said Psychiatrist Dr Khalid Attaullah Mufti, while speaking at the seminar arranged by Pakistan Society for Family Physicians (PSFP) here on Sunday.

Mr Mufti said that apart from social support and counselling the patients also needed spiritual treatment, saying that the religion and beliefs were of significance, because more commonly the people turned towards Allah Almighty in dangerous events.

He said that growing poverty, unemployment, crime-ridden environment, lack of social support and public awareness regarding depression were soaring the number of patients.

Mr Mufti, who is also principal of the Khyber Medical College, said family physicians were better entrenched to treat such patients. PSFP general secretary Dr Saleem Javed said that 100 patients in every 2,000 suffered from tension, anxiety and depression, but only 50 per cent of them were diagnosed.

It was also caused by sudden shock, like death of relatives, grief that led to malfunctioning of brain transmitters. The patients felt to be worthless, guilty and demoralized, he said and stressed organizing seminars and refresher courses for family physicians to treat the patients.

PSFP director Dr Khalid Lateef Awan informed that they had launched a programme to impart more information to the general doctors so that they could treat the patients at primary level healthcare facilities.

He said that it was important to update the curriculum at the graduate and postgraduate level for the medical students, so that they could become aware of the latest research regarding the diagnosis and treatment of depression.

PSFP president Dr Riaz Shahid said: "More than 450 million people suffered from depression globally and it happened to be the fourth biggest killer among all the diseases," he said.

Depression, he said, affected the youths and deprived them of their productivity, who ultimately became burden on their families and society. He said that plans were afoot to arrange refresher courses, seminars and symposiums to impart training in sociology and psychology to the doctors.

Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai, who was chief guest on the occasion, underlined the need that the doctors should accord priority to the spiritual aspect of treatment.

He said that they should advise the patients to pray and recite verses from Holy Quran while taking drugs. "The patients believe their doctors, because they considered them as the healers.

We have adopted a way of life where materialism had taken lead from other consideration," he said and added that in such scenario, it was natural that all sorts of diseases would continue to haunt people.

He said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal-led provincial government would extend support to the Pakistan Society for Family Physicians in its war against diseases.