Challenges of a bipolar patient in Pakistan

Being a patient of bipolar disorder is challenging in Pakistan — a country where anachronistic stereotypes and superstitions still prevail. Bipolar disorder is one of the deadliest psychological disorders. It is characterised by severe mood swings — high confidence followed by depressive thoughts.
Teenagers are most likely to develop this disorder. The victims develop suicidal thoughts, face insomnia, lose appetite, struggle to concentrate, and live with a grudge. Followed by depressive seizures, they face hypomania — a condition in which the patients feel extremely energetic and confident.
This weird attitude often results in inducing misconceptions in the minds of people around them. The victims are taken to the shrines instead of a psychiatrist. Even though the disorder is a leading cause of growing suicides among young people, it remains a taboo that society has yet to overcome.
It is believed that 14.3 per cent students between the age of 15 and 25 years suffer from this disorder in Pakistan, without knowing it. There are hundreds of psychiatrists available in hospitals. A visit to a good psychiatrist is a simple solution to the problem. A few counselling sessions and medication can take the victims out of their troubles, but that visit to the psychiatrist remains elusive.
KASHISH ALI
KASHMORE