Student suicides

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has finally responded to the nationwide protests in the wake of a medical student committing suicide, allegedly due to the disciplinary excess of the teachers of the private university she was studying in. Alleged persistent harassment by teachers caused the 22-year-old female student to go from being a top-performer to her own killer. PMDC, in recognition of her struggle, has now mandated all medical and dental institutions to implement mental health screening protocols as a preventative measure.

In November 2024, PMDC had similarly instructed all institutions to establish anti-harassment committees to "prevent and address harassment complaints". Someone must ask the authorities issuing all these directives: are such commandments merely token measures to begin with, or does implementation falter somewhere along the way?

The government and its assisting regulatory authorities seem to approach problem-solving as a one-step procedure. Previously, through anti-harassment committees and now, via mental health screening tests, they believe their job is done. But no one wonders about the academic culture that necessitates such measures - since they're always introduced as a band-aid on a tragedy, an attempt to placate angry masses.

One in five medical students in Pakistan exhibit signs of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. This statistic is the result of an environment where students are routinely ridiculed and infantilised for wanting emotional support. They are told that they do not belong in a highly stressful field such as medicine. Instead of receiving support from their community, they are ostracised for being 'weak'. What exactly are such protocols meant to do here?

Without sensitivity training and significant penalties to deter the abuse of power, support structures are irrelevant. If students are too afraid to seek help, another building in the name of psychological support will have no meaningful impact on the lives of these students; and the state will continue failing to protect its youth.