Social stigma

WHO has recently reported that 16 percent people in our country are suffering from moderate mental illnesses and one percent from serious illnesses. There are 500 trained psychiatrists to treat them. Many people do not seek treatment due to the social stigma attached to mental illnesses.
This is an alarming situation. Most people remain untreated in this age of availability of effective treatments. Mental illnesses not only affect families but also people around them. The time has come for our media and intellectuals to take up this issue at all levels.
Dr Habibullah Chaudhry
Lahore