Headline June 04, 2017/ ''' MENTAL *ILLNESSES* MERCY '''

''' MENTAL *ILLNESSES* MERCY '''

*WITH THE BLESSINGS OF THE  HOLY MONTH OF RAMADAN* : 

*THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY*   joins me in praying for Peace, Harmony, for a Healthy and Meaningful life, for every single one of you, and for the salvation for the whole of mankind.

In saluting mankind,  I am joined by:

Merium, Rabo, Haleema, Saima, Eman, Ambassador Malala, Lawyer Zainab Khan/King's College, Seher Khan/ King's College-

Sanyia, Shahbano, Aqsa, Paras, Sorat, Zara, Zilli, Nina, Tooba, Armeen, Ahsen,  Faraz, Ali,Umer, Wajahat, Mustafa, Haider, Awais Khattak, Ibrahim, Zaeem, Asim, Hazeem, Ghazi, and Hammad. And........

The Good Lord's Little Angels : Maynah, Maria, Ibrahim, Harem, Haanyia Khan, Massud, Dawood, Ibrahim, and Merium Khan.

Visiting  Mental Hospitals, and  many a  *Drug Rehab Centres*, was never going to be easy. But, somehow, Zilli and I, went through with it. 

*To the initiated, we were looking for Sanity?*.

Zilli, suffered the most  especially while seeing  fellow colleagues and students. Their neurons misfiring, their chemicals off. I stopped many times to look up and to seek answers?

Zilli, shaken by the wringer,  wiped her tears, as I recited a verse from one of the greatest thinkers of all times : Philosopher, mystic, poet, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, romanticist,   Umer Khayyam:

''As I did pass the potter's make.

 I saw a vessel of some ungainly make......

 Khayyam, O'brother Khayyam, screamed the vessel.

 'How then could the hands of the Potter shake?''

THROUGH OUT THE DEVELOPING WORLD : *MENTAL ILLNESS*  is a an extremely neglected subject as far as    legislation, policymaking    and institutional infrastructure are concerned.

Reportedly, there are about  *35 million and  50 million*  people in Pakistan suffering from mental illnesses and disorders in Pakistan. And around and over 9 million of them are students, Boys and Girls, reports, Zilli. 

There are only 400 psychiatrists in the country and the government's spending on mental health  was only 0.4% of the shamelessly low health budget.

It is not surprising that there should be such large numbers of people with mental health problems in the country-

Given the increasing insecurity, terrorism,  and violence in the society, and because common mental disorders are left unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated.

Apart from the financial implications of this burgeoning public/student health problem, what is more frightening is the developing world's lack of capacity and human resources at the institutional level to address it.

For example : In 2009, a WHO-AIMS report on mental health systems in Pakistan had pointed out this gap:

Out of number of professions who had graduated in 2008, there were only 0.002 psychiatrists, 0.07 psychologists, 0.008 nurses, 0.005 social workers.and 0.002 occupational therapists per 100,000 persons in the country.

On average, there is one, Yes 1, psychiatrist for half a million people in Pakistan but because of demographic disparities, there may be none for millions of people in far flung areas. 

There exists no comprehensive mental healthcare system in *Proud Pakistan*, or for that matter in the developing world.

The dynamics of mental health policy formulation are cross-sectoral and wide-ranging from assessing existing psychiatric and rehab facilities, to defining indicators and gathering data on different mental health morbidities-

Creating awareness on promotion and prevention and putting strategies in place with defined roles of other departments such as health, police and local authorities, it is a complex and challenging process involving many stakeholders.

The bureaucracies of the developing world simply do not have the capacity to formulate holistic and coherent policies without substantive collaboration with local and international experts, practitioners and WHO.

At the same time, the educational environment in higher educational institutions does not provide much space to mental health studies.

Teaching guidelines of  psychology in boys colleges is rare, while comprehensive courses on mental health disorders at medical colleges are absent with few doctors-

Specializing in psychiatry because not much interest is generated in this subject at the graduate level, nor any incentives offered.

There is hardly any research on mental health prevalence and interventions at the postgraduate medical institutions.

Standards of teaching at university departments of clinical psychology have actually fallen. 

Here in  *Proud Pakistan* the HEC curriculum guidelines for BS and MS in clinical psychology are explicit.

But with the current emphasis on research and peer reviewed publications, teaching hours and internships have been cut down to the detriment of students. 

It should now be a serious responsibility for every country in the Developing World to go address the acute shortages of qualified and trained psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and therapists through incentives.

While Bar Councils must initiate regular  mental health legislation workshops for lawyers and jurists. 

The World Students Society thanks researcher, Rukhsana Shah.

With most respectful dedication to Prime Minister Mian Mohammed  Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, and all the Leaders of the Developing World and All the Leaders of the World:

See Ya all Your Excellencies  on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!   -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' !Pains Galore! ''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless