LAHORE – Like all over the world, mental health day is being observed in Pakistan here on Monday (October 10).
The objective of celebrating this day is to raise public awareness about importance of mental health and psychological disorders.
According to World Health Organization, “mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which people realise their own potential, can cope with normal life stresses, can work productively, and can contribute to their community”, reported Radio Pakistan.
Senior neurologist at Aga Khan University Hospital in Lahore, Dr Shahid Mustafa said, “it affects 50 million people worldwide, 5 million of whom fall unconscious more than once in a month.”
The doctors suggested epilepsy can be managed by a long-term antiepileptic drug therapy. However, the medication must be selected on the basis of seizure type and tolerability.
Shahid said 40,000 people in Pakistan were living with the disease in 2005, but the number is said to increase to 80,000 by 2030.
WHO statistics for 2002 showed that 154 million people globally suffered from depression, which is a form of mental illness.
Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif in his message said that it is time to educate and raise awareness of mental illness and its major effects on people’s lives.
