Mental Health Day: Depression on the rise in Pakistan    

Depression has been on the rise in the country. Most of the citizens in Pakistan don’t bother with this disease’s symptoms at earlier stages. A majority does not deem it a disease even. 

Let’s resolve to pay heed to this lethal ailment on International Mental Health Day which is being celebrated on October 10.  This year’s theme is 'Make mental health for all a global priority”. 

The experts are of the opinion that the prevalence of anxiety and depression is high in the country as most of the people in Pakistan do not want to talk about it. “If a person is suffering from depression, he does not consult a psychiatrist”, they informed.  

Known psychiatrist Dr Ajit Lal Vaswani, one out of every ten people is suffering from depression and anxiety. However, depression is a treatable disease like any other disease, he added. 

In today's times, this disease has become so common that hardly any person in the world is safe from it and women are more affected by this disease than men, he hinted. 

Prof Dr. Riaz Bhatti said depression can lead to suicide. There is an effective treatment for mild, moderate, and severe depression, and the patients should consult the experts, he opined.  He said that depression is having negative effects on the psychology of young people. 

He said depression is a common mental disorder globally. It is estimated that 5% of adults suffer from depression. The disease eats man like a termite. 

Reported:  Iqra Awan