Facilities lacking: No place for the mentally challenged

Recent closure of a psychiatric hospital in Lahore has exacerbated the problem.


Mudassir Raja February 27, 2012

RAWALPINDI: Without a single state-run shelter or a psychiatric hospital in the capital, the sight of lonely, mentally-challenged scavengers in the streets has become very common. Malnourished and prone to disease in the freezing winter nights, these citizens have long been denied the required care.

Unfortunately, most people are usually either afraid of them or feign ignorance of their presence, observed Faisal Shami, a trader on Raja Bazar’s busy Liaqat Road. “When people find them in their neighbourhoods, they just report them to the police or Rescue 1122,” he said. Shamsi said these men and women mostly live on alms and help from local traders, adding that while some have a basic understanding of what to eat and how to dress, others are as helpless as infants.

Hotel owner Pervaiz Butt spoke of one such mentally-challenged individual in the area, a man who starts chewing on anything he can find when he’s hungry, be it a rag or a piece of leather. “I usually keep an eye on him and give him some real food to eat,” he added.

Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) Institute of Psychiatry Assistant Professor Dr Asad Nizami said that while many such people are drug addicts who get mentally disturbed when they fail to get their usual dose, the real victims are ones who suffer from schizophrenia, a psychological disorder in which the sufferer is characterised by disorganised thoughts and can often be recognised by their peculiar movements, he said.

Dr Nizami said that such patients require continuous care in rehabilitation facilities till they are able enough to fend for themselves. However, he noted that such patients require prolonged treatments and there is presently no facility that can provide them with medication and treatment for more than a few months. Without proper treatment, the psychological perils these individuals face are at times much graver than the physical challenges they are forced to confront on the streets, he added.

The professor underscored the need to set up a suitable shelter to rehabilitate and provide them proper medical treatment. He said that the recent closure of the only psychiatric hospital in Lahore has exacerbated the problem.

Dr Nizami said that under the Mental Health Ordinance 2001, mentally disturbed patients should be rescued by the police or health practitioners as such patients cannot or do not come to the hospitals themselves.

Last week, he said the police brought in an old woman suffering from schizophrenia from Pirwadhai. She had suffered multiple injuries and her wounds were deteriorating. She underwent minor surgeries, but later when no one came to claim her, she was taken to an Edhi home.

Social Welfare District Officer Shafiq Awan confirmed that no such shelter was available in the district, adding that even the rehabilitation centre that used to function in Lahore only facilitated mentally-challenged children.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2012.

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