Recent studies and health experts say the coronavirus has caused a 30 percent increase in mental diseases in Pakistan in recent months. Mental diseases in COVID-19 have been increased by 30% in Pakistan.
According to the Sindh Mental Health Authority, a government body that offers mental health care in Sindh’s southern province, the risk of suicidal thoughts is the most common symptom among coronavirus patients and even those who have recovered.
Senator Karim Khawaja, the director of the mental authority, told Anadolu Agency that almost 40% of the 1,500 survey respondents had had low to high depression after contracting the coronavirus. Mental diseases in COVID-19 have been increased by 30% in Pakistan.
According to Khawaja, a licensed psychotherapist, 25% confessed to getting suicidal thoughts upon becoming affected or even after recovery from disease.
Pakistan recorded the first-ever coronavirus case in March 2020, with over 1.23 million illnesses and over 29,000 deaths since then.
The country is actually dealing with the fifth wave of COVID-19, as well as an increase in omicron type cases in the country, particularly in Sindh province.
National and international experts stated the coronavirus, which has induced psychiatric illnesses in persons who are really prone to mental health concerns, has caused a 30 percent increase in mental illnesses in Pakistan, speaking at a symposium in the port city of Karachi on Sunday.
According to Prof. Dr. Asim Shah, executive vice chair of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the number of mental health concerns has increased by at least 25% to 30%.
Moreover, prof. Iqbal Afridi who is dean of the faculty of psychiatry said that the effects of coronavirus on mental health are serious. Afidid is also the editor of the Journal of Pakistan Psychiatry Society.
According to his observations, Pakistan lacks trained psychologists and mental health institutes. Pakistan has a population of 210 million people and it has only 600 psychiatrists and that amount is really insufficient. So, he suggested that government should announce some incentives to promote this field of psychiatry.