Mentally-ill inmates

Mental illness being prevalent among majority of prisoners is a result of two crises that have long been unfolding

The Balochistan Health department has made tremendous headway in acknowledging the plight and rights of prisoners by teaming up with WHO to set up a psychiatric telemedicine centre for their counseling and treatment. The pilot project is to be initiated at the Balochistan central jail and if successful will be extended to other jails across the province. The problem of mental illness being prevalent among majority of prisoners across the country is a result to two crises that have long been unfolding.

First is the dilapidated condition of jails. Prisons across the country remain grossly overpopulated. Prisoners are not offered adequate medical assistance due to the lack of basic healthcare. Most female prisoners do not have access to sanitary products while those that have recently given birth have to live in unhygienic conditions with their child. While there are those who already suffer from mental illness before they are imprisoned, there are also those who develop them after facing years of abuse in prisons. Constantly living in deplorable conditions, being treated with contempt and remaining isolated from the rest of society take a massive emotional and psychological toll on them.

Second is the rise of mental illnesses among the masses and the stigmas attached to it. While around 50 million people in Pakistan suffer from mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD, majority of the people do not think of them as diseases. The individual continues to suffer while no one around them is willing to listen or help. This has led to a host of different issues including high rate of suicide, particularly among the youth.

At the juncture of the two crises, we find mentally ill prisoners who are perhaps that most tortured, ignored and vulnerable of all groups. Such initiatives are therefore paramount in order to help these prisoners and create awareness. The very nature of prisons must be rethought. They must act as rehabilitation centres rather than isolation cells. Exceptions aside, prisoners too are human beings.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2021.

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