PESHAWAR: A silent and largely neglected crisis is gripping Pakistan as mental health disorders surge at an alarming rate, with young people and women bearing the heaviest burden.
Recent data from the World Health Organisation and local health bodies reveal that mental illnesses have transcended from a public health concern into a major global threat, manifesting with particular severity across Pakistan and its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Globally, the World Health Organisation reports that more than one billion people are now living with mental health disorders, with anxiety and depression leading the surge. Within Pakistan, the situation has become acutely critical, with regional and national reports indicating that between 22 per cent and 60 per cent of the population suffers from some form of mental illness. In certain highly vulnerable demographic groups, researchers have observed rates that climb even higher.
The skyrocketing numbers have left millions of citizens in desperate need of psychological and psychiatric support, yet the country’s healthcare infrastructure is starkly unequipped to handle the demand.
Experts point to a crippling shortage of mental health professionals as the primary barrier to care. With an exceptionally low number of qualified psychologists and psychiatrists relative to the population, accessing professional treatment has become an almost impossible hurdle for the vast majority of those suffering.
As the gap between patients and available specialists continues to widen, medical experts warn that the unchecked rise in psychological distress poses a profound, long-term threat to the country’s social and economic fabric.
