‘Mental illness shouldn’t be made a stigma’

LAHORE : A panel discussion on mental health of students was held here on the fourth day of All Pakistan Summit for Student Societies at the Government College University (GCU) Lahore.

Psychologists and academicians participated in the discussion titled “How to attain mental health, patience and stress management of in higher education institutions by introducing spiritualism.” Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi said that mental illness shouldn’t be made a stigma and it should be treated as any other disease. “We will keep on suffering until this stigma is gone. We have a lady counsellor on the campus for students, especially the girls who are too shy to open up,” he said. Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Aneel Shafi said about 75pc of mental health problems are reported in the age group 10 to 24 years, as biological, psychological and social factors causes a devastating effect upon mental health in such crucial years of one’s life. “Stress is at least in 50pc of the students which is negatively impacting their life. Almost 70-80pc people do not seek any help and take any treatment,” Dr Shafi added.