Urging the state to treat mental health as an emergency service within disaster and primary health care, mental health experts warned on Sunday that Pakistan was ignoring a silent emergency as one in three citizens struggled with psychological distress.
Mental health experts linked the surge in mental health issues to repeated floods, mass displacement, economic strain and a public health system that did not screen or manage mental illness until it reached a breaking point.
The warning came at a Pakistan Association for Mental Health (PAMH) event at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) marking World Mental Health Day 2025 where speakers said mental health remained outside emergency and disaster protocols despite being a recurring consequence of climate shocks and economic collapse.
They said Pakistan could not continue treating mental health as a secondary issue when trauma, anxiety and depression had become entrenched in disaster-hit and economically distressed communities.
PAMH President Dr Syed Ali Wasif said the country’s response plans for floods, epidemics and displacement ignored psychological first aid, leaving millions to cope with trauma on their own.
He called for mental health services to be embedded into primary care, emergency medicine and disaster relief, with a trained first line of counsellors at basic health units and clear referral systems for severe cases.
Presenting the PAMH’s annual report for 2024–2025, Dr Wasif said the association had expanded outreach to schools, universities and vulnerable populations but warned that civil society efforts alone could not fill the gap created by state neglect.
He urged the government to allocate dedicated funding for mental health training, supervision and community-level counselling, especially in districts repeatedly hit by floods and economic migration.
He said structured screening tools at basic health units and mental health support at relief camps could save lives and reduce long-term disability, but both remained missing from public health planning. He stressed that trained counsellors and general physicians could deliver effective early interventions if the state included mental health in its emergency response budget.
Speakers highlighted that Pakistan had fewer than 600 psychiatrists for a population of over 240 million, with thousands of schools, colleges and union councils having no access to any form of psychological support.
They warned that untreated depression, rising suicide attempts and widespread substance dependence among the youth were warning signs that the crisis was beyond awareness campaigns.
The session also paid tribute to PAMH founder Prof S Haroon Ahmed, remembered as one of the first psychiatrists to push mental health into national conversation when seeking help carried stigma.
Two books on his life and philosophy were launched, and clips from his recorded lectures on dignity in care and community resilience were screened. Speakers said honouring his legacy required a functional public system, not ceremonial tributes.
An open dialogue followed, where senior psychiatrists, trainees and civil society members agreed that Pakistan needed a national mental health emergency plan with trained workers at the community level, screening at every basic health unit and counselling integrated into disaster response.
They said the current approach, which activated support only after a crisis, increased suffering and long-term costs.
PAMH members appealed to authorities to recognise mental health as a core public health and emergency service, not a social welfare issue.
They said integrating mental health into disaster response, primary care and social protection systems was the most practical way to reduce suffering and carry forward Prof Haroon’s vision of accessible, dignified care for all.
