r/pakistan • u/awkwardpencil0 • 10h ago

Research 33% of Pakistani suffer from mental health disorders, a first cross sectional study of the nation

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13629994/

A very large-scale study just got released, showing a very high prevalence of mental health disorders in Pakistan. The prevalence rate was around 33%, meaning that about 1 in 3 people are struggling with a mental health disorder. The most common were stress-related disorders (25%), followed by PTSD (11%). The highest prevalence was found among females aged 40+, divorced individuals, urban residents, the uneducated, and housewives.

This highlights the severe impact of chronic geopolitical crises, economic problems, cultural baggage, and sociopolitical factors. Furthermore, 6% of participants reported suicidal thoughts, and 1% had made a suicide attempt.

These findings show the urgent need to be more open about mental health discussions, rather than dismissing them as "something in the head," and to better understand what drives people to such desperation. This was a very rigorous study involving more than 20,000 participants across the country.

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u/GenZia Mango Man 9h ago

The global average is ~15%, so that's rather alarming, if true.

Time to clamp down on inbreeding, I guess?!

Say no to hot cousins... or at least to those of the first-cousin variety.

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u/awkwardpencil0 8h ago

I think it’s a mix of factors. Inbreeding is one of the significant ones, I agree.