Mental health morbidity pattern in Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country with meager mental health facilities, low number of psychiatrists and dearth of systematic data on mentally ill patients. A study was conducted with a view to obtain data on mental health morbidity patterns and the socio-demographic profile of mentally ill patients. Sixty psychiatrists who met the agreed criteria were included in the study and were asked to fill-in a questionnaire eliciting relevant information. The results indicated that 45% of the patients attending these psychiatrists were suffering from depression, 17% from schizophrenia, 11% from substance abuse disorder and 2% from dementia besides other mental disorders. Antidepressant regime outnumbered all other treatment methods. It was reflected that depression was commonest followed by schizophrenia and substance abuse disorder. It was concluded that there was a high number of psychiatric disorders among patients attending clinics and hence there is a need to conduct and compare studies which are community-based in order to get elaborate insight into the magnitude and prevalence of mental disorders.