Years of domestic turmoil and stigma around mental illness have left Pakistanis struggling to find mental health support.
Mental illness is stigmatized or considered a curse in some parts of South Asia, making it harder for people to seek help. As a result, many disorders go undiagnosed and untreated.
An estimated 40 percent of the Pakistani population has a mental illness, and some reports suggest even higher numbers, psychiatrist Saadia Quraishy said. And Pakistan has only 500 practicing psychiatrists for a population of about 200 million.
That breaks down to 1.5 million people per psychiatrist, compared to about 10,000 per psychiatrist in the U.S. and United Kingdom, according to Chris Underhill, founder of aid organization BasicNeeds.
The BasicNeeds program partners with local nonprofits to create basic mental health clinics offering access to counseling and prescription refills. Teams of community members learn how to recognize symptoms and side effects; they also conduct outreach to refer patients to clinics.
The program also provides skill training for families, helping them earn income to offset the stress that contributes to mental illness. BasicNeeds has served about 12,000 people in Pakistan, who each pay $20-30 each year for the services.
Underhill said he hopes world leaders will recognize the importance of providing mental health care to nations in the developing world, where the vast majority of people who have mental illnesses remain untreated.
Warm up questions
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What does the phrase “developing world” mean?
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What are some common mental health disorders?
Critical thinking questions
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What are the challenges of obtaining mental health care in Pakistan?
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How does BasicNeeds approach the issue of mental health? In addition to psychiatric care, how do they try to remove stressors from patients’ lives?
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How does Pakistan’s access to mental health care have a global effect?
