The number of psychiatric patients is on the rise in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas due to violence and terrorism.
A survey reveals that as many as 60,000 such patients were registered. These patients are under-treatment in various public and private hospitals. Keeping in view, increasing number of psychiatric patients, a private hospital is also functioning in Peshawar.
According to official data, 47 explosions registered during February 2013 in which 94 people lost their lives and 181 others were injured.
Comparing to previous years and months, February remained violent across KP and FATA. In February, at least 10 schools, seven for boys and three for girls, had been bombed.
Psychiatrists said that due to the ongoing violence, terrorism, target killing and displacement, the strength of mentally affected patients was increasing every day. They said the mental patients from war-torn Afghanistan were
still pouring in Peshawar due to lack of health facilities there.
They believed that psychiatric problems were spreading due to socio-economic disorder and violence. In this connection, suicide cases were also on the rise in the region.
In Chitral, around 15 girls committed suicide in 2012 under socio-economic problems.
In public hospitals in Peshawar, well-educated and civilised people were among the psychiatric patients. It was learnt that one of them is a Grade 17 woman officer. One physician, three traders and four students are also under the treatment. Whereas the administrations of these hospitals were reluctant in sharing data, but they confirmed that educated and civilised people were among their patients.
The number of psychiatric patients is also high among the internally displaced people. Thousands of affluent family members are forced to reside in rented houses or with relatives in urban cities and towns across the country. Doctors believe that members of such families are also potential mental patients.
Some of the doctors confirmed that they were receiving mental patients from both North and South Waziristan. Almost half of these patients were affected by drone attacks and bombings. Doctors also confirmed that women were giving births to premature children in these areas.
