Mental Health Issues of Students in Pakistan
In the past few years, mental health concerns are transforming into a full-fledged pandemic. By each day millions of people are showing signs of some kind of mental illness. According to World Health Organization, one in every four individuals suffers from a mental health disorder, the youth from age 20 to 30 years remains the main victim in this case. Some common problems related to mental health found in populations of all ages are depression, anxiety, excessive stress, bipolar disorder, etc.
The state of mental health in developing countries like Pakistan presents a murkier picture. In last decade or so, the number of college and university students suffering from psychological disorders is on the rise. The common conditions experienced by students are stress, anxiety. symptoms of depression, eating problems, drug addiction and destructive behaviors such as suicides. According to one of the studies focused on university students of Islamabad, Peshawar and Rawalpindi, 39 percent of the students were found with low mood, 36 percent with anxiety and 25 percent with depression.
The prevalence of psychological illnesses such as mentioned above leads to short- and long-term consequences for the students. In short run, the individuals may get addicted to drugs, diminished interest in socializing with the colleagues, struggling to focus on their studies etc. In the long run the consequences are more detrimental; the students with history of untreated disorders can show self-destructive behaviors. In the light of one of reports in 2012, thirteen thousand people in Pakistan committed suicide and almost 90 % percent of them were carrying depression, anxiety or stress for longtime.
There are multiple factors leading to mental health disorders in students but some of the key factors are competitive environment among students in the educational institutions, students pressurized by parents, teachers and society as whole to achieve high grades.
It is a generally believed that students do wonders when there is competition among them; the logic behind this notion is that students by competing with fellow students improves their academic performance. Such reasoning may bring fruitful results some cases, but when it fails to bring desired outcomes, it does irreparable damage to the mental health of the students. Another factor contributes towards rising cases of students with depression, stress etc and in some cases suicides, is due to the fact that student live under constant pressure from parents, teachers and society in general to achieve high grades; when they fail to achieve it, they go through a series of mental abuse from teachers, parents and rest.
The rising mental health concerns in students can be dealt by prioritizing the psychological well-being of the students by ensuring counseling services available for all level of students. Furthermore, culture of collective learning rather than competition among students must be promoted to ensure that all student can learn effectively and their mental health is not compromised.