Need for focusing on mental health research stressed: 19th Psychiatric Conference begins

Psychiatric experts called for making results-oriented efforts to improve mental health conditions in the country by raising awareness among the people and focusing on research and education in the field of mental health to provide a blueprint for the future.
They noted that the concept about mental illnesses has not been fully developed so far and people are still unable to comprehend the true nature of the disease, especially in terms of causation and treatment approaches.
These views were expressed at the 19th National Psychiatric Conference organised by Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS) at a local hotel. The theme of the moot was 'Psychiatric Complication of Dengue Virus Fever and Psychological Intervention'. About 200 delegates from across the country and psychiatrists from the USA and UK are participating in the moot.
At the inaugural session, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Saeed Elahi was chief guest. Among speakers were Pakistan Psychiatric Society President Dr Rizwan Taj, Dr Aziz Yousafzai, Dr Nasir Hussain, Professor I A Tareen, Professor Khalida Tareen and Professor Riaz Bhatti.
Dr Saeed Elahi said that the Punjab government was paying special attention to health and education sectors. He said maximum facilities, including free medicines, were being provided to patients in government hospitals across the province. He said that Chief Minster Shahbaz Sharif had vowed to provide identical healthcare facilities to the rich and poor. He added that it was because of Shahbaz's vision that health budget was increased manifold this year. He said there was a dire need to focus on awareness of psychiatric diseases.
Dr Rizwan said that economic factors, insecurity, political instability, intolerance, breakdown in relationships, early marriages and work-related problems are main factors of surge in mental health problems.
According to him, there are apprehensions that by the year 2020, depression would be rated as the second major cause of death, after heart diseases.
He said that the situation with regard to provision of psychiatric facilities in territory care hospitals is satisfactory while psychiatric treatment facilities in district and primary health centres are very grim and need to be improved. He said psychiatry has become a very important specialty both in undergraduate and postgraduate levels in medical teaching.
He highlighted the efforts being made by PPS in raising awareness about mental health problems. He urged media to play a positive role for portraying positive images so that trend of hopelessness could be checked.
Dr Nasir Hussain said the dengue fever had adversely affected the life in Punjab and had brought havoc through this viral disease. He acknowledged the efforts of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in taking quick and drastic action against this natural disaster. During the onslaught of this disease, there were a lot psychological problems such as fear, phobia and anxiety because of lack of awareness about dengue, he added.
In a scientific session, Dr Rizwan gave presentation on mental health services in Pakistan and the future outlook. Dr Riaz Bhatti spoke on prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with dengue fever and its correlation with disease severity.