Out in the open: DUHS offers free psychiatric check-ups

Low blood pressure can also be a symptom, say experts.

KARACHI:

Around 250 patients were offered free psychiatric consultations at the Ojha Campus of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on Saturday.

The free consultations were part of a seminar held to raise public awareness of psychiatric conditions many of which are curable but are ignored due to social stigmas.

More than 90 per cent of psychiatric patients prefer not to go for check-ups whereas 30 per cent exhibit unexplained medical symptoms. Low blood pressure is also considered a symptom of psychological problems.

The seminar, organised by the Institute of Behavioural Sciences, was attended by DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof. Masood Hameed Khan and Vice Chancellor Prof. M Umer Farooq as well as Senator Haseeb Khan, professors, doctors and paramedical staff.

Participating in the conference via telephone was Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, who stressed the need to strengthen the discipline of psychiatry in the country. Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Dow Medical College and Civil Hospital, Karachi Dr Razaur Rehman said society should stop being hostile towards people with psychiatric problems, especially during the course of their treatment. He stressed the need for people to understand that most cases psychiatric problems were curable and people just needed to educate themselves.

Mental conditions do not come with immediate warnings, he clarified. They are not like headaches, the flu or coughs, which can be treated in 24 hours by taking medicines. Not all psychiatric conditions are psychosis, which is an acute form of mental illness. With time, medical science has proved there are chances of recovery from psychosis in three to six months.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2012.