Securing mental health awareness for youth

It’s true that mental illness is still considered a taboo in Pakistan but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be discussed as it is something no one can escape from especially these days when the world is passing through one of the most critical times as the unprecedented pandemic has taken the whole world by the storm.
Mental health awareness for youth has mostly been avoided and given a secondary importance as nobody especially the Pakistani community seems to digest the fact that the youth does suffer from depression and anxiety disorders. They dispel it by calling it ‘’temporary’’ phase of stress and declare the people suffering from it as ‘’fake depressed’’ which is really disturbing and alarming at the same time.
The cases of students suffering from psychological orders is increasing at a crucial rate. It is not the time to sit back and relax and let the storm settle down because it won’t and then it would be too late to appease the whole situation and the future of the nation will be severely jeopardized.
According to one estimate as provided by Dr. Rafi Amir-Ud-Din, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics (COMSATS) around 50 million people in Pakistan suffer from mental disorders. A wide range of psychiatric disorders have been reported, such as depression, substance and alcohol abuse, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to one estimate, 36 percent of Pakistanis suffer from anxiety and depression, which is often caused by distraught family and friend relations, the feeling of being marginalized by the society, the unsteady economic and political conditions of the country giving rise to unemployment and poverty.
In case of Pakistan there is a trend of not sharing thoughts and feelings with the family members that results in accumulation of suppressed emotions as a result of which the youth suffers from mental disorders. Strict and firm attitude on the part of parents play a major role in the escalation of the situation. The parents need to open up to their children and create an air of trust and friendliness so the children can find solace in them and share their fears and frustrations and seek their guidance. This will prove to be beneficial in many different ways as it will result in the formation of a stronger bond between the family members that is crucial for the success of one’s family life. This will also play an important role in the confidence-building and character formation of the youth which is highly important as the future of our great nation depends upon the success and well-being of its youth.
‘’In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.’’
–Friedrich Nietzsche
In order to cope with this enigma that is spreading faster than cancer awareness regarding this illness should be promoted and government should take strict steps regarding this matter and make sure that this disease is being tackled with at every strata of the society. People should receive counselling from able psychologists and certified motivational speakers. Mental illness should be totally normalized in the country. Youth should be educated that it’s not something to be ashamed of. It’s a part of life. A trend of encouragement by peers should be promoted.
Reforms need to be carried out in our educational system. Youth shouldn’t be just taught to achieve good marks and secure representable jobs but should also be taught how to think critically. How to analyze things that are happening around them and how to voice opinions about issues that matter to them the most.
The West has realized how important the role life skills play in shaping one’s life and has taken up the initiative of imparting this knowledge at the basic primary level. Children are taught to help others. They are taught to be empathetic towards others respect the elders and how to handle tough situations. They are taught self-love which is really important in case of shaping one’s life.
The habit of book-reading and journal-writing should be promoted among the youth in order to reduce the risk of mental illness. Book-reading has proven to be a very useful method to reduce stress as they provide you guidelines how to better your lives. Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.
‘’The more you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.’’
– Dr. Seuss
Journal writing is a great of relieving stress and is regarded as a good source of catharsis and can help to overcome mental disorders. It helps to reduce the intensity of negative thoughts and helps to overcome painful memories which is necessary to manage the stress. It helps the youth to gather thoughts and makes them realize what is important for them and helps them prioritize their life choices. This aspect of journal writing is of instrumental value as it will help people to move forward in their lives get rid of negativity and work hard for their dreams.
The government and the general public should start taking mental health issue seriously and raise awareness regarding the illness. Service centers should be set up. These services should be subject to evaluation and the results should be provided to professionals and planners to try to influence policy development. An efficient way to address mental health problems among youth in schools would be to organize mental health awareness programs for the teachers so they can provide initial assistance to students with mental health problems.

Pakistani women:Living in worst form of quarantine.

Life for Pakistani women has always been somewhat a dismal state of affairs for which they genuinely display not even a single ounce of enthusiasm. The unprecedented pandemic has resulted in no significant change for Pakistani women rather it has aggravated the already monotonous tiring constant drill and has even endangered the survival of some already on the brink of ruination.
The majority of the Pakistani women from when they are toddlers are constantly brainwashed and persuaded into believing that they can only find fulfillment and contentment through home rearing and child bearing. Indoctrinated into believing if they obey orders of the more “cultured and sensible elders of the family” they would be able to lead a happy and well satisfied life.
Mostly a nominal portion of women who try to oppose the deities of the time and speak up and demand their just rights are marginalized and harassed emotionally financially and are ostracized to the extent that they finally succumb to the monstrous patriarchal system.
Typically, a Pakistani woman works round the clock without complaining as she considers it her sole purpose of life like something she was born to do. Her duties include preparing food, sending children to school, surviving the constant nagging and taunts thrown at her way by her husband and his family otherwise endure the punches and bruises for committing the heinous sin of retaliation.
Reasons for such depressing predicament of Pakistani women fall within the ambit of apathetic society. Women are forced to live in mental prisons because situations are created within the society to impede, more significantly cut off the mobility of women in the society altogether. If they go out, they are exposed to constant staring, looked down upon as though being insignificant beings and are made to feel isolated. So, women prefer to live within the four walls. This is especially the situation women living in small town have to deal with.
Even the professions deemed suitable for women are limited depending upon the likelihood of getting a good marriage proposal. For example, majority of the parents opt for medicine as a suitable profession for their daughters not for the purpose of alleviating the pain and bringing comfort to the ailing humanity but to get a man from a well-off respectable family as they all want a ‘’Doctor’’ as a life partner, the yardstick of being a perfect life partner though the myth is highly confusing . As a result, most of women don’t even work after graduating from medical school which is a different social ailment altogether.
Women are always stuck in home. Whenever they try to manifest the desire of going out more than once a month their request is denied by the notion that there is no use of indulging in frivolous activities even by the men dubbed as ‘good husbands’’. This is the situation of women belonging to lower middle class and those belonging to rural areas that constitute a significant portion of the total female population of the country.
It is pitiable and so saddening on the part of parents especially mothers who rob their girls of their childhood and marry them off at an early age out of the fear that they wouldn’t be able to secure financially sound partners later and don’t lay focus on their education and not even care to invest in their talent.
Girls who are ignorant happily succumb to their parents’ gruesome actions as they think through marriage, they would be able to escape the misery of tough education and would be able to acquire a social position without much effort. Little do they know they are opting for life asking for a life-time of drill, constant manipulation and exploitation. Such a pity!!!
The government needs to take this issue seriously and it needs to set up a regulation program to certify that girls aren’t married off without getting proper education. It needs to pay serious attention and lay proper focus on girl’s education so that they become fully cognizant of their rights which would enable them to raise their voice against oppression. Programs should be set up to ensure that girls and abused women are protected from their vicious relatives and spouses and should be provided basic facilities and training programs for employment should also be established to enable them to support themselves.
The government should also make and enforce policies in order to monitor the activities of people to ensure that serious punishments are given to parents who persuade their daughters into getting married without giving them proper education and also to those who marry off minor girls who are incapable of giving informed consent in order to eradicate this menace from our society.