Every 40 seconds a person commits suicide in world

Mental Health Session at RMC Conference

Scientific papers having greater
concern in Pakistani settings presented

Rawalpindi

Over 800 thousand people die of suicide every year around the globe and 75 per cent of these are occurring in low and middle income countries including Pakistan. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among ages 15-29, and most alarmingly there is a death from suicide every 40 seconds.

Dr. Nasim Chaudhry a Consultant Psychiatrist and an Honorary Senior lecturer at University of Manchester expressed this while delivering a talk entitled, “Cultural Adaptation of a Psychosocial Intervention for Patients with Self Harm” in the Global Mental Health Session organized by the Institute of Psychiatry under the umbrella of Third International Rawalpindi Medical College Scientific Conference.

RMC Principal Professor Muhammad Umar, Professor Malik H. Mubbashar, the founder of Institute of Psychiatry and ex-principal of RMC, Head of Institute of Psychiatry Professor Fareed A Minhas, international and local faculty members, residents and house officers, medical students and psychologists graced the occasion with their presence.

Sharing the message from the world suicide prevention day, 2016, summarized as Connect, Communicate & Care, Dr. Naseem lamented the deplorable state of affairs with regards to suicide in Pakistan in particular the way the law declares for it to be illegal and thereby leading to under-reporting. She spoke about the predictors of suicide in the Pakistani population including psychiatric disorders, high rates of stress, unemployment, and the most important one being a previous attempt of self-harm.

She went on to describe the efficacy of Problem Solving Therapy in preventing repeated self-harm. She spoke about its cost-effective and practical nature. She informed the audience of C-MAPS (Culturally Adapted Manual-Assisted Problem Solving Training) and its potential for use in a Pakistani population.

Head of Behavioral Sciences Department of the School of Social Sciences & Humanities at NUST Dr. Salma Siddiqui shed light on the topic “Traumatic Distress: a rising  public health challenge”. She began her talk by highlighting that terror attacks are becoming more common by the day. She lamented that the way we conceptualize trauma is deficient, seeking only to target a pathological individual. She illustrated her point with an example saying that targeting malaria patients and not doing anything of the mosquitoes, will not curtail the problem.

Professor Tayyab Tahir, consultant liaison psychiatrist at the University Hospital of Wales at Cardiff delivered a lecture entitled “A Trip Down a Lane Called Sherlock”, which in his own words was, his report to his teacher Professor Mubbashar, as to his achievements and interests over the course of his career.

The various faces and abilities, he said, that he has had to don in this journey are akin to Sherlock Holmes. Every psychiatrist needs to have these diverse set of abilities, he said, in order to become a successful practitioner. He spoke about having to empower patients as one of his key emphasis in this time period. Abiding by the various ethical principles and internalizing the core values as recommended by the Royal College, this was made possible.

In the session, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and Chairman Department of Psychiatry at Ziauddin University Hospital Professor Imran Bashir Chaudhry delivered his talk entitled, “Neuro Inflammation: New Horizons in Prevention & Treatment of Schizophrenia”. He started his talk by informing the audience about the debilitating nature of schizophrenia, its chronicity and increased morbidity and mortality as compared to general population with physical illnesses that do not get the due attention that non-schizophrenics get.

Dr. Sabah Khalid who is a Consultant Psychiatrist/Psychogeriatritian at the Northwest Aged Persons Mental Health Program, Melbourne Health, Royal Melbourne Hospital addressed the audience on the topic, “Brain vs Mind: Frontotemporal Dementia”. Talking to professionals, she focused on reminding everyone to give hope to their patients.

Prof. Brig. (R) Mowadat Hussain Rana, the founder of the Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health and ex-dean of psychiatry CPSP, was then requested to take stage and address the audience on the topic, “Global Mental Health and Medical Education: The Pygmalion Kiss”. He sketched before the audience the strong legacy and principles of medical education. He lamented the state of affairs in medical colleges across the country where such strong principles exist somewhere in writing but are lifeless and do not influence the working of the medical institutes; whether public or private.

Head of the Institute and Dean of Psychiatry at CPSP Professor Fareed A. Minhas thanked the speakers for their enlightening and inspirational talks.

Professor Mubbashir appreciated all the speakers. He paid tribute to Professor Fareed for having done more for psychiatry in Pakistan than anyone else. He acknowledged Prof. Mowadat for always bringing something original in his talks. He appreciated the innovations and pertinence in reports of Professor Imran, Professor Tayyab, Dr. Naseem, Dr. Saba and Dr. Salma.

Professor Muhammad Umar concluded the session with a vote of thanks to all participants and appreciated the contributions of Professor Mubbashar as his teacher.