Psychologists and psychiatrists agree that there is lack of statistical information about mental illnesses in Pakistan generally and about depression particularly. There are many reasons for that, ranging from inhibition on the part of an individual, ignorance at the level of society, and absence of a planned and concerted effort to collect data.

At the individual level, people who suffer from depression may or may not be aware of the ailment, depending on the level of the illness and the people around them. Such patients, according to psychologists, seem to be quite big in number, and it is difficult but not impossible to count them. Also, there are patients of depression who do not want to share their condition with others.

"We do have data on depression or other mental illnesses in Pakistan but that is in a scattered form with various universities in Pakistan," says Nadeem Ahmed Pirzada, a psychologist, and president Pakistan Psychologists’ Association (PPA). "Whatever data we have should be consolidated to make it a complete whole so that it can help in identifying the extent of the problem, and how to solve it."

From their experience, psychologists and psychiatrists in Pakistan estimate 30-40 per cent of the population as patients of depression.

According to a news report appearing in October last year, around 50 million people are suffering from mental disorders in Pakistan, affecting 15 to 35 million adults, which is about 10 to 20 per cent of the population.

"Some 20 million children or 10 per cent of the population in our country need attention from mental health practitioners," said Dr Ayesha Mian, chairperson of the department of psychiatry at the Aga Khan University (AKU) in a news report of a seminar held on mental health in Karachi in October last year.

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International organisations, like the WHO, say there are only 400 psychiatrists and 5 psychiatric hospitals within the entire country for a population of about 180 million.

In this situation, we have no idea how many patients of mental ailment will have to suffer because of the stigma attached in our society and the absence of sufficient data as well as lack of medical help available.

WHO says that in a developing country like Pakistan, one per cent of the population suffers from severe and 10 per cent from mild mental disorders.

In the absence or lack of sufficient data on mental ailments, women in Pakistan face an even greater risk of neglect or maltreatment by the family or the whole society.

"Universities in Pakistan must act to use their resources, like the departments of psychology, sociology, and social work, etc, to make an effort and gather the data and compile it in a consolidated form," adds Pirzada.