A systematic review of mental health literacy in Pakistan

Background: Unemployed people with mental health problems often do not use available mental health services. Help-seeking may depend on knowledge, recognition and attitudes associated with mental health - a concept referred to as mental health literacy (MHL).Aim: To investigate the influence of MHL on help-seeking intentions and behaviors among unemployed individuals with mental health problems.Methods: A total of 301 unemployed individuals with mental health problems were recruited mainly from employment agencies in Southern Germany. MHL was assessed by the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), the Depression Literacy Scale (DLS), and the Depression with Suicidal Thoughts Vignette. Help-seeking intentions and behaviors were measured using the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ). Associations between MHL and help-seeking intentions and behaviors were tested using regression analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM).Results: All three MHL scales were significantly positively associated with help-seeking intentions and behaviors. In our SEM model, greater MHL was significantly associated with increased intentions and behaviors to seek help from health professionals (formal help) and from family and friends (informal help).Conclusions: Among unemployed persons with mental health problems, programs to improve MHL could facilitate formal as well as informal help-seeking. Future research should examine the efficacy of MHL-interventions to increase help-seeking.

Objective: We investigated the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among visitors to Faith Healers (FHs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We also studied the sociodemographic profiles for these visitors, in addition to their past psychiatric history, reason(s) for seeking FH help, and past and current treatment experience with FHs. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among the visitors (n=321) to a number of faith healing settings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using a specially designed questionnaire and validated Arabic version of The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results: Most of the participants were young adults (35.1±10.8 years) and males with intermediate and secondary levels of education who had not sought medical help prior to their visits. A high proportion of the FH visitors have diagnosable mental illnesses. Depressive and anxiety disorders were the most prevalent among the study participants; few visitors were affected by psychotic or bipolar disorders. Conclusions: The present study provides insight for understanding the type of patients with psychiatric disorders who visit Faith Healers.(FHs). The study highlights the tendency of psychiatric patients in Saudi Arabia to visit FHs, which could reflect the importance of further studies to clarify the impact of FHs on the management of those patients.

To determine the proportion of people consuming tobacco in various forms, level of knowledge and practices regarding various harmful effects of tobacco and passive smoking. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Ghulam Mohammad Jokhio Goth, a small semi urban community of Gadap Town Karachi, which comprises of a population approximate 2225. About 157 people were interviewed regarding their tobacco consumption practices through a semi structured pre-tested questionnaire from June to August 2005. There were 314 households in the community and every alternate household was selected with a random start. The study subject was selected among all the adult members of 18 years age and above present at the time of interview in the household by lottery method and the questionnaire was administerd to those who were resident of GM Goth after taking consent. In our study 110 (70%) people were tobacco consumers, 47% were knowledgeable about hazards of smoking, 22% were aware about passive smoking, and 90% started consuming tobacco below 20 years of age. The most popular form of tobacco was pan 40%, cigarette 39% and hookah 19%. Eighty four percent were regular smokers. Only 13.6% took counseling, 26.3% tried to quit smoking but none of them succeeded. About 23.5% smokers suffered from cough and headache due to smoking. When age, sex, marital status, income of the household, education and knowledge about hazards of smoking was compared, age and knowledge showed significant association while other variables did not show any significant association. Our study concluded that high proportion of people including men and women consume tobacco. Most of them were unaware about tobacco consumption hazards, and passive smoking.