{"id":18746,"date":"2026-10-31T11:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T11:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=18746"},"modified":"2026-10-31T11:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T11:43:12","slug":"32-4mn-pakistanis-face-mental-health-conditions-but-care-remains-out-of-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=18746","title":{"rendered":"32.4mn Pakistanis face mental health conditions, but care remains out of reach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD: The number is rising, and the government is not the one counting it. In a written reply to the National Assembly, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal put the number of Pakistanis living with mental health conditions<\/a> at 32.4 million in 2023, up from 30 million in 2019. That is an increase of 8 per cent in four years, or roughly 600,000 more people a year. The figure comes not from the ministry\u2019s own records but from the Global Burden of Disease Study, an international research project. Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, a member of the National Assembly, had asked how many Pakistanis are affected, where they can be treated and who is available to treat them. The ministry could answer only part of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychiatrists who spoke to Hum News<\/em> say the rise is real and that it is also a sign that more people are seeking help. \u201cIt reflects both an actual increase in psychological distress and greater awareness and willingness to seek professional help,\u201d says Dr Asma Mehboob Khan, a senior clinical psychiatrist at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, who has practised for 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Ibad ul Haq, head of psychiatry at the Federal Government Polyclinic, agrees. He points to \u201ceconomic stress, floods, displacement and insecurity\u201d, but also to \u201cmore people finally coming forward as stigma slowly eases\u201d. Better counting, Dr Haq says, \u201cisn\u2019t bad news in itself\u201d, because \u201cmost people with mental illness in Pakistan still never reach care\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three psychiatrists agree on who is struggling most. Depression and anxiety dominate, \u201cparticularly among women and young people\u201d, Dr Khan says, driven by \u201ceconomic hardship, unemployment, family conflicts, academic pressure and social instability\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Waheed Razzaq, the only psychiatrist in Mandi Bahauddin, a district in Punjab, adds a modern cause. Young people are losing their \u201cstress-coping skills\u201d, Dr Razzaq says, in a \u201cconsumerist society\u201d fed by social media, where \u201call the time we are comparing ourselves with someone or other\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many of these patients get help is anyone\u2019s guess, because the state barely keeps records. The ministry\u2019s only count is for Islamabad Capital Territory, where 301,266 people were reported to have mental health conditions in 2023. That is roughly one in eight of the capital\u2019s 2.36 million residents. For everywhere else, the reply notes that health has been a provincial subject since the 18th Amendment and says the data \u201cmay be obtained from the respective provincial departments\u201d. There is no breakdown between urban and rural areas. On clinical psychologists, the reply says simply that data \u201care not available\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workforce figures the ministry does have are grim. The Pakistan Health Workforce Snapshot 2026, compiled with help from Britain\u2019s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, counts 1,050 registered psychiatrists for a population of 257.7 million, including people in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. That works out at one psychiatrist for every 245,400 people. Registration is not the same as practice, though. Dr Haq reckons fewer than 900 psychiatrists are actually working, because many have emigrated over poor pay and facilities. Dr Razzaq says nobody knows how many of the 1,050 are practising or how many have left the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures for each province, from 2024, are worse still: 406 psychiatrists in Punjab, 228 in Sindh, 122 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 44 in Balochistan. Against 2023 census populations, Punjab has one psychiatrist for every 315,000 people, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa one for every 335,000 and Balochistan one for every 338,000. Within each province, the specialists are concentrated in the cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Mandi Bahauddin I can say I am still the only psychiatrist,\u201d Dr Razzaq says. Neighbouring Hafizabad, Khushab and Chakwal have no full-time psychiatrists, only visiting ones. In big cities, Dr Razzaq says, appointments are easy to get, and some psychiatrists even struggle to fill their diaries. \u201cBut in rural areas it is a different story. People really need it, and they have to travel very long distances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the countryside, a patient \u201cmay travel hours, wait weeks and see a specialist for ten minutes\u201d, Dr Haq says. Many go first to faith healers and hakeems. The scarcity means \u201cdelayed diagnosis, limited treatment and poor access to specialist care\u201d, Dr Khan says. \u201cMany patients remain untreated or seek help from unqualified practitioners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s reply offers plans rather than people. It lists a National Action Framework for Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health (2021-2030), a Global Mental Health Summit<\/a> held in Islamabad this year, a draft National Mental Health Policy for 2026-2035, an \u201cIslamabad Declaration\u201d, a helpline (1166) and a subcommittee. The idea at its centre is sensible. Under the World Health Organisation\u2019s mhGAP programme, general doctors and Lady Health Workers would be trained to identify and treat common disorders, leaving specialists to deal with the most complex cases. Pakistan has form here. Problem Management Plus and Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions, two low-cost talking therapies designed for delivery by non-specialists, were developed and tested in Pakistan and are now used by the WHO worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three psychiatrists back the approach, with conditions. \u201cA psychiatrist alone cannot see every patient with depression and anxiety. We have to filter somewhere,\u201d Dr Razzaq says. Primary-care staff can help \u201conly with proper training, resources and regular psychiatric supervision\u201d, Dr Khan says, adding that \u201csevere and complicated cases must be referred to specialists\u201d. Dr Haq calls such task-shifting \u201cthe only realistic route to scale\u201d. But without training, supervision, medicines and clear referral routes, Dr Haq warns, \u201cit\u2019s a label rather than a service\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That points to the missing piece: money. The reply sets no target for training psychiatrists and gives no budget. Dr Khan wants mental health made \u201can essential part of primary healthcare\u201d, with \u201cadequate funding at district and community levels\u201d. Dr Haq asks for \u201ca ring-fenced budget\u201d for the same purpose, along with better pay to stop psychiatrists from leaving. Dr Razzaq\u2019s request is the most concrete. \u201cWhatever health insurance schemes the government has brought so far, be it the Sehat Card or anything else, mental health has never officially been included,\u201d Dr Razzaq says. The cards cover no psychiatric admissions, outpatient visits or addiction treatment. Until they do, most of Pakistan\u2019s 32.4m will pay for their own care or go without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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