PESHAWAR, Aug 9: Speakers at a seminar have expressed concern over lack of facilities for psychological disorders. Psychiatrist Dr Mohammad Shafiq, in his speech at the seminar held at the Iftikhar Psychiatric Hospital here on Sunday , said that 31 per cent of diseases originated from psychological problems.

Citing a WHO report on Global Disease Burden (GDB), he said that people suffered from some sort of metal stress and distress during a major portion of their life.

In the current situation, unemployment, poverty, violence, US-sponsored war on terrorism and class divisions produced stresses and pressures which contributed to mental ailments.

"Intra-family rivalries, specially between daughter and mother-in-law, father's or husband's absence, carelessness of parents, ignorance regarding psychiatry problems and inadequate mental health facilities has been contributing to the list of mental ailments a great deal," said Dr Shafiq.

He said the solution lies in strengthening the family system, creating job opportunities, end to violence, provision of adequate mental health facilities and public awareness viz-a-viz mental problems.

"Some problems such as water crisis, wheat crisis, ethnic, linguistic and sectarian strifes, burgeoning population, clash of civilizations, problem of national identity, bad relations between the countries do affect the people. These are not political but health problems," he informed.

"Health is a state of physical, social and psychological wellbeing of the people," he said quoting WHO's report. "Wana's operation, war in Iraq and Afghanistan and our soaring relation with India had angered and puzzled the people, which had shattered the people mentally," he said.

Dr Fawad Khan attributed the rise in mental problems to non- existence of recreational facilities and playgrounds. He believed that young people should be facilitated to mix up with others in the society, because it would inculcate a sense of confidence in them.

"Everyone was taking tranquillisers at their will, because these are available over-the-counter. The mental problems, including biological, genetical, social and psychological could be treated, provided the patients consult the right doctor at the right time," Dr Khan said.

Massive-scale urbanization, disintegration of family system, injustices and lack of social service support system in the country were cited as other reasons adding to the mental sicknesses.

He suggested that psychiatry patients should also visit the physicians to exclude the medical problems as a cause. The people, he said, to the day relied on spiritual healers and quacks despite the fact that modern techniques of treatment and diagnosis were abundantly available.

He pointed out to the problem of drug addiction and said that it was the indirect outcome of the prevalent injustices and inequalities in the society. Dr Mian Iftikhar Hussain expressed concern over the lack of mental health facilities in the province, which he said forced the patients to visit unqualified doctors.

He said that there were only two psychiatry wards in the Lady Reading Hospital and the Khyber Teaching Hospital, besides the Government Sarhad Psychiatry Hospital.

Dr Hussain said that he had built the hospital with to treat the patients and earn the blessings of Allah. The hospital, he said, was providing counselling facilities to the psychiatry patients, besides investigation and treatment facilities free of cost.

He demanded that the government should introduce psychiatry as a subject at the medical colleges, so that the doctors could diagnose the patients suffering from mental ailments and send them to psychiatrists.