ISLAMABAD: A study shows that upto ninety percent women that come from homes belonging to ‘missing persons’ suffer from psychological disorders of depression, hysteria and anxiety.
‘Grief Untold’ – a research conducted by Islamabad-based human rights group, Defence of Human Rights (DHR), studies 100 cases of women from homes of missing people all over Pakistan. Research participants include females from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Members of the DHR visited the homes of the personnel where the interviews were conducted. Perhaps, not surprisingly, all homes had the common characteristics of being poverty stricken and emotionally disturbed. Overcome by emotional and mental distress, the female family members had stress induced health conditions like high blood pressure and increased instance of diabetes.
The DHR reported the total number of cases of missing persons well over 5000 in 2014. Numbers have since increased.
According to Aga Khan University (AKU) department of psychiatry chairperson Dr Ayesha Mian, “around 50 million people are suffering from common mental disorders in Pakistan. The illness afflicts 15 to 35 million adults, which is about 10 to 20 per cent of the population. Unfortunately, there are only 400 trained psychiatrists in the country.”
DHR Chairperson Amna Masood Janjua states that “these ruined households, it seems, have been completely forgotten by the government; no steps have ever been taken to rehabilitate them in any way.”