PESHAWAR, Oct 8: Psychiatrists have said that mental illnesses are prevalent in 49 per cent of the population and urged the government to take concrete steps to reverse the trend.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club in connection with the World Mental Health Day to be observed on Monday, Dr Syed Mohammad Sultan, head of Department of Psychiatry, Khyber Medical College Peshawar, said that besides widespread mental illnesses, there were about four million drug addicts in Pakistan.

Unfortunately, he added, “we have 300 psychiatrists for a population of 160 million”, which meant one psychiatrist for half a million people.

Among the different kinds of mental disorders, Schizophrenia was prevalent among one per cent population, depression among 15 to 20 per cent, panic disorder among 10 per cent, dementia among 1 to 2 per cent, mental retardation among 2.2 per cent, generalized anxiety disorder among 4 to 7 per cent, eating disorder among one per cent, epilepsy among 0.5 per cent and personality disorders among 10 per cent population of Pakistan, he said.

A large number of children suffered from emotional disorders, with studies showing that seven per cent of children under the age of 10 were afflicted by psychiatric ailments, he added.

Another area of concern is the rising population of elderly people. An international study has found that there will be 75 per cent increase in the number of elderly people in the West by 2025. But in developing countries like Pakistan the increase would be 375 per cent.

One-fourth of the elderly population suffers from psychiatric disorders, with 10 per cent of them stricken by dementia alone, he said.

Dr Sultan said that “unfortunately we don’t have old-age psychiatry services, nursing homes, or special pension schemes” which could take care of the elderly population. Shortage of trained health practitioners, mental health facilities and lack of awareness about mental health problems “have led to abuse and ill-treatment of patients by quacks and so-called faith healers”.

He called for strengthening the available psychiatric facilities at leading hospitals, ensuring full-strength staff there.

The two mental hospitals in the NWFP needed to be upgraded and the facilities for psychiatric patients needed to be improved. The detention wards in the Central Prison Peshawar needed special attention, with offenders afflicted by mental disorders requiring special treatment.

He demanded that the mental hospital building be shifted from the present location and more facilities, including accommodation and food, should be given top priority.

A function to mark the World Mental Health Day would be organized at the Nursing Auditorium, Khyber Teaching Hospital, at 10am.