PAKISTAN: Mental Illness among Women

PAKISTAN: Mental Illness among Women: Gender-Driven?
By Zofeen Ebrahim – KARACHI, Feb 1, 2010 (IPS)

–excerpt– According to Dr Murad Moosa Khan, head of the psychiatry department at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, the psychiatrist to patient ratio in Pakistan is an abysmal one to half a million to a million people.

“A vast majority (of the wards) are brought here by none other than their children,” said Fatema the nurse, who has been with the centre for over 10 years. “I see relief in their [sons and daughters’] eyes when they pass on their burden to us,” she said ruefully.

–snip– For large families in congested living conditions, usually consisting of one- or two-room houses, “taking care of a mentally ill person over a long period can take a toll on the entire family, especially on the sole bread winner,” he said.

But Dr Khan dismisses poverty as the main reason why women are being brought to a mental institution such as Edhi. “Poverty only comes into play when the decision to discard them has been made,” she said.

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