32% of adults in Pakistan have mental disorders — Dawn

In Pakistan, nearly one in three adults lives with a diagnosable mental or behavioral disorder. These are the findings of the country’s first nationally representative mental health study, which involved about 18,000 adults from four provinces.

As Dawn reports, the study was conducted over five years, from 2018 to 2022. Its results were published in the British Medical Journal. The work was led by Professor Raza-ur-Rahman of Hamdard University in Karachi, in collaboration with Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the United Kingdom, the University of South Florida in the United States, and psychiatric institutions in Pakistan.

Key study findings

According to the study, 32% of adults had a mental or behavioral disorder at the time of the survey, while 38% experienced such a disorder during their lifetime. About one-fifth of respondents met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. More than 10% of those surveyed had depression, and 6% reported suicidal thoughts during the previous month.

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The authors also identified social inequalities in the prevalence of disorders. Higher rates were recorded among older people, those with lower levels of education and income, unemployed people, as well as widowed, divorced, and separated individuals. Mental health problems were associated with significant difficulties in family life, social relationships, and the ability to work.

Need to develop support services

According to Raza-ur-Rahman, the researchers used internationally standardized tools, while the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics determined the areas for the survey and the sample size. He noted that the data obtained could help develop mental health policy, allocate resources more accurately, and expand people’s access to diagnosis and treatment.

Wajid Akhundzade, president of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society, said that the country has limited specialized services and faces a shortage of trained mental health professionals. The researchers recommend integrating relevant services into primary health care, investing in community-based support systems, training health workers, and combating the stigmatization of mental disorders.