Pakistanis in general need to give up their negative approach in all aspects of life and be more tolerant towards each other so as to counter the growing incidence of pre-traumatic disorder in the society, said the country’s renowned psychiatrists on Sunday.
Prof Dr Haroon Ahmed, Dr Mowadat Rana, Prof Dr Iqbal Afridi, Dr Javeria Saeed, Dr Zafar Haider Zaidi, Dr Ilyas Baloch, Dr Naim, Dr Chunnilal Kalani and Dr Abdul Wasay were the keynote speakers at the Mental Health Awareness Programme organised by the Pakistan Association for Mental Health (PAMH) and the Psychiatry Department of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).
“Unfounded and baseless apprehensions about a disastrous future, with little consideration towards blessings in hand, has emerged to be a triggering factor for behavioural disorders among many people,” said Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health Commandant Dr Rana.
This also needs to be complimented with discipline and a balanced approach towards life, with equal emphasis on proper time management, said JPMC Psychiatry Department’s Dr Afridi.
The senior psychiatrist opined that the social health of the people is equally important as are their mental and physical well-being.
He said that the inability of an individual to adjust to his workplace, or even with his own family members or in the community, must not be ignored and the person must be assisted with due consideration towards his or her prestige and confidence.
PAMH President Dr Ahmed said that in view of the acute shortage of psychiatrists in the country, it is important that family physicians and general medical practitioners are trained as a source to make proper diagnosis and to refer them to qualified psychiatrists as well as psychologists, in accordance with the need of the person.
Other speakers of the programme extensively discussed different categories of psychiatric ailments, namely psychosis, mania, schizophrenia, depression, drug and substance abuse, anxiety disorder, and psychosomatic disorder.
