Mental Health and its Challenges
The latest episode of Ranra (Light) discussed the right to better health facilities in the context of mental health and the challenges faced by the general public.
The guest on the show, Dr. Ahmad Zaib said that provisions for better mental health facilities should be the government’s top priority. Research says that a large population of Pakistan is battling depression and other mental illnesses mainly due to poverty, unemployment, domestic problems, social injustices, violence and sense of insecurity.
He stressed that this segment needs special attention of the society and government. However, neither mental health services are up to par nor enough psychiatrists are available in the country. He noted that mental health is a major problem nowadays and in order to protect children from becoming victims of depression it is necessary to spread awareness at schools as mentally distressed people are the most neglected segment of the society and even their family members often ignore them.
Dr. Ahmad shared that unfortunately females are the main victims of mental diseases as they have very fewer opportunities to express themselves. He said that we lack active listening and many mental issues can be sorted out just by listening and expressing ourselves.
Ms. Humaira Mahwish added that it’s the negative attitude on part of the adults that females hardly get the opportunity to express themselves. Moreover, freedom of expression once suppressed, leads to physical symptoms of sickness.
The first report by Mr. Anwar Anjum from Swat shared the findings of a survey conducted in 2018 that over 50 million people suffer from mental disorders in the country out of which 57% are women and 25% are men. In our society, psychological disorders are not considered an illness, thus patients are deprived of treatment that can lead to many health complications.
The second report by Ms. Ceena Naeem identified poverty, unemployment, social injustices, discrimination, violence and domestic problems as the major reasons for mental illnesses.
Three calls were received during the show.
About Sabawoon:
Sabawoon airs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) since 2011. It began as a counter-radicalization, strategic communications program, designed to highlight and promote the fundamental governance values such as democracy, rule of law, women’s rights, and equal citizenry, social cohesion.
The show airs Tuesday through Thursday every week under four themes on FM-101.5 Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan 711 kHz from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM.
On Tuesday, Jarga Maraka covers current affairs and important regional issues with input from government and other senior officials. Jwandai Jazbey airs on Wednesday and deals with issues of relevance to, and significance for youth, students and women. Socio-cultural and female issues are discussed in Ranra on Thursday.
The primary objective of the show has been to underline the criticality of constitutionalism, fundamental rights, public accountability and the rule of law for countering extremism illegalities of all forms.