About couple of months and so back, worthy Vice-Chancellor of Harper University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Professor Dr Shakilur Rehman while speaking at a gathering has expressed his deep concern quite emphatically about increasing trend of committing suicide among the students. This obviously warranted immediate attention of the parents, teachers, educational institutions and official quarters concerned of the federal and provincial governments and all line departments downwards. Quite pertinently this called for direly needed starting for discussion and talking about the role played by somewhat unrealistic academic expectations as well as known and unknown ignorance on the part of the parents to say the least. Very unfortunately, research on suicidal ideation was rather limited to the extent of being negligent as the mental diseases were somehow were viewed with shame and disgust , the stigma around mental health prevented any such discussions and talking from entering the mainstream discourse at the appropriate level in the educational institutions as well as by the government at any levels. Official statistics, very sadly being stated here, were either not documented or remained unreported mostly but anecdotal violence do suggest that the incidents of suicide were definitely on the rise in the country in a quite worrisome manner. It was regrettably being mentioned here that because of embarrassment socially in the society and police action as committing suicide is strictly prohibited in our religion Islam and a criminal offence also under the Criminal Procedure Coe (Carps). because of these and other factors, the parents ensure to keep committing of suicide on any count by their children tight-lipped and well-guarded secret even from close relative. This scribe knows very well about some cases in which a young boy committed suicide when his widowed mother married her colleague in the organization where she was working and another family hushed up burial of the young girl who had committed suicide in quite mysterious circumstances ensuring no word went outside the house.
Students in Pakistan, like in other South Asian countries, experienced immense pressure for performing exceptionally well in the educational institutions from schools to the universities level regardless of the psychological toll it may be taking .Failure on the part of the students in coming up to high expectations was typically viewed with disdain.
Since education, particularly higher education in medical or any other field, was so critical for achieving upward mobility, a failure to perform well academically pushed many into the pitfalls of depression. Indeed, unemployment and suicide, however, have always been co-related to each other. Medical students were especially vulnerable to suicide due to the very demanding nature of their studies. Overbearing parents of such students somehow certainly do not help in this turning issue either If some young students choose to confide in their parents or another forgiver, they were quite unfortunately, bluntly asked to suck it up .Expressing their feelings about depression was certainly not a luxury which most people could afford in the country.
Presently, most students in the country, somehow, lacked access to deserving and required support systems in the form of mental health counselors or even a vague sense of community appreciation. Precisely speaking, this social alienation was that which dried the people to take the extreme and extraordinary decision to end their lives. When the bond that united an individual with their group was severed, they lose the stability to sustain the pressure coming to their life. Most students in the country, irrespective of their living in the urban areas or in a town or village, lacked this direly needed sense of belonging, long hours in the educational institutions right from schools up to colleges and universities and even longer all nights studies for their examinations meant that there was no time to develop and promote any sort of relationship. With no one left to turn, committing suede became an appalling option: a depressed person, of any gender, was somehow unable to rationalize as to why he or she should continue to live in rather unfriendly and unconcerned society. Since students were specially more vulnerable to suicide ideation, it was essential that the educational institutions should integrate mental health diseases that were among than most of us were unfortunately inclined to assume, quite emphatically it was high time that our educational institutions and their teaching staff as well as parents take much overdue and ignored notice of this burning situation without delaying it any further.
In order to ascertain more views in this regard particularly from the students themselves, the other day this scribe visited the University of Lahore and there came across young Zunaira Qayyum Khan who is doing higher studies in Clinical Psychology and quite frequently intermingled and interacted with fellow students, girls and boys and exchanged views on wide ranging subjects particularly those concerning young people’s social and mental problems and issues.
Responding to some pertinent queries from this scribe, Zunaira Qayyum Khan said that both girls and boys ,undoubtedly, none wanted to end their own lives, there was always stress of this and that sort and loneliness behind these harmful thoughts and subsequent fatal decisions. When people do not get due and expected deserving attention and care from their loved ones, they obviously feel much depressed in their life and then they want to end their life when these things become intolerable any longer for them. She said that as a matter of fact she has always welcomed such people who having great stress in their lives and tried to help them as her determined mission in life was not money but more importantly and devotedly to make such depressed and ignored people who were having issues of stress in life feel better.
It is a matter of bitter fact that psychological problems were pretty widespread in our society. According to one somewhat conservative estimate around 50 million people of all genders and ages were suffering from one or the other mental and psychological disorders. A wide range of psychiatric disorders which were generally reported were depression, substance and alcohol use, schizophrenia, polar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Even tensions prevailing in the families particularly among the parents also caused mental and psychiatric problems for the young girls and boys who somehow failed to comprehend as to what was wrong with their fathers and mother.
According to another estimate, a pretty large number of about 36 per cent of Pakistanis suffered from anxiety and depressions, which was often caused by strained family and friendly relations, negative feelings of being unfit in the society, the unrealistic economic and political conditions which somehow very unfortunately were continuously prevailing in the country thus persistently giving to unemployment and poverty in the country.
It was generally said and believed that if a doctor only listens to his patient attentively almost half of his/her ailment or pain owing to disease was gone even using any formal medication. As a matter of fact, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists were trained to identify mental disorders and issues. And suggest suitable and affordable treatment to such patients.
In the backdrop of what has stated above and cutting long sad story short, it was quite appreciable and encouraging indeed that more and more people particularly young women like Zunaira Qayyum were now opting for studying and specializing in clinical psychology for treating their fellow countrymen of all genders and ages . She claims herself to be an emphatic listener and pointedly stated that she was about to achieve her childhood dream of becoming a successful girl in the medical profession was coming to be true as she was very close of becoming a clinical psychologist soon and other half will hopefully be accomplished when she becomes well-known throughout Pakistan as an emphatic listener.
Please join this scribe in wishing all the best to her and many other young girls great success in life after they become fully qualified clinical psychologists and selflessly, sincerely, dedicatedly and devotedly serve and treat their sick and suffering people of all genders and ages as long as they are living and helping in particular the people getting rid of their suicide tendencies which were quite alarmingly increasing presently in the country.
Indeed that was a clarion call which a senior educationist of the high rank of the Vice-Chancellor had given regarding increase in incidence of suicide among the young students. But very unfortunately, allows this scribe to say, nobody in the government, educational circles have taken any much direly needed notice of it. Same may also be true about the parents to say the least. All concerned better act now seriously, collectively and genuinely before the ugly situation goes out of control, of everyone please.
