PESHAWAR: In light of the World Health Day which is held every year to spread awareness on a specific health related issue at North West School of Medicine (NWSM) arranged a chart display competition and seminar regarding the awareness of depression and how teenage depression is a huge factor among our youth. The Seminar was arranged by Dr Riaz Gul who is the head of community medicine at NWSM and Dr Shandana Rehman who is the research associate at NWSM in an effort to help guide students towards a healthy mindset. The chief guests included Dr Zahir Shah ex head of Community Medicine at Khyber Medical College and Principal of Women Medical College Abbottabad and the Chief speaker was Dr Wajid Ali Akhunzada the head of Psychiatry unit at Hayatabad Medical Complex. In an Estimate given by the World Health Organization (WHO) the most neglected health field in Pakistan is mental illness which afflicts 10 – 16 per cent of the population; with a large majority of those affected being women and only 400 psychiatrists and 5 registered psychiatric hospitals exist within the entire country for a population exceeding 180 million. This roughly translates to an alarming psychiatrist-to-person ratio of 1 to half a million people. Dr NomanWazir the Consultant Psychiatrist at the North West Hospital stated that regarding awareness of depression the media lacks giving people enough exposure which is why the government needs to invest in campaigns that further increase awareness and also expressed his concern regarding easy access to illegal medication and drugs among the youth which should be kept in close check from the government. “Our youth doesn’t really have any a lot to do and the government needs to invest in our youth and provide them with better opportunities that can help them shift the negative energy to a positive mindset”, he said. Dr Shandana expressed gratitude regarding the positive outcome of the event and said that children specially in the field of medicine face a lot of pressure in matters regarding their studies and urged the parents to be more understanding towards what career their children decide to choose because the peer pressure of studies is causing a lot of depression among the youth. The Basic issue in countries like Pakistan is the lack of awareness, the awareness of depression and why it is a serious issue for a human’s capacity. Depression and its seriousness need to be understood so that people pay may attention to their mental health. Miss Rubina Shah the student councilor at the NWSM said that the any stigma regarding mental health needs to be abolished and more people need to be educated regarding mental health which should be treated at an initial level so that it does not become a chronic mental disorder.