Everyday around 50-55 people, mostly men are committing suicides in Pakistan, 70 percent of whom are people in the age group of 15-29 years, mental health experts said, adding that suicide is now the fourth leading cause of death among youngsters in the country.
Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), they said 19,331 suicidal deaths were reported in 2019 in Pakistan, of which 14,771 were males and 4,560 were females, and added that the WHO also estimates that for every suicide, there are at least 10-20 acts of self-harm. Hence, there may be an estimated 140,000 to 300,000 acts of self-harm in Pakistan annually.
“Major contributing factors to mental health issues facing youngsters are academic pressure, substance abuse, cyberbullying, excessive use of social media, family disputes and lack of economic opportunities, said Dr. Syed Usman Hamdani, Founding Director, Global Institute of Human Development-Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (GIHD-STMU) at a mental health moot on Monday.
The moot titled “Mapping Youth Mental Health Landscapes: Insights from Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam,” was organised by the GIHD-STMU at Shifa College of Medicine. (The News)
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