Mental health literacy in Pakistan: a narrative review
| Pages | 63-74 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-08-2019-0026 |
| Published date | 06 December 2019 |
| Date | 06 December 2019 |
| Author | Rubina Begum,Fahad Riaz Choudhry,Tahir Mehmood Khan,Faizah Safina Bakrin,Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi,Khadeeja Munawar |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health |
Mental health literacy in Pakistan: a
narrative review
Rubina Begum, Fahad Riaz Choudhry, Tahir Mehmood Khan, Faizah Safina Bakrin,
Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi and Khadeeja Munawar
Abstract
Purpose –The term ‘‘Mental healthliteracy’’ is defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders
which aid their recognition, management or prevention. The importance of health literacy for physical
health is widely studied;however, the area of mental health literacy in Pakistan has beencomparatively
neglected. Thepurpose of this paper is to address the knowledge about mental health in people livingin
Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach –Relevant literature relating to mental health literacy was identified
through variousdatabase searches. The databases searched included:PubMed, Cochrane database of
Systemic Reviews, PsycINFO using the terms mental health, mental health literacy, mental health
education,Pakistan.
Findings –Literature suggests that there is dearth of knowledge about mental illnesses and their
treatment among public. This review also highlights the importance of mental health literacy among
professionalsworking in the field of health care. In Pakistan, due to low literacyrate, a high percentage of
poverty and dearth of trained professionals warrants an emendation in approaches established for
attainingthe goal of public health and psychiatric care.
Practical implications –Findings have implicationsfor practitioners in the field of mental health care as
well as designing targetedinterventions for enhancing mental health literacy and help-seekingbehavior
in the future.
Originality/value –A limited understanding and lack of improvement in mental health literacy may
interferewith society’s acceptance of evidence-basedmental health care whichmay hamper the delivery
of adequatemental health services to the needy.
Keywords Pakistan, Mental health literacy, Mental health, Review, Mental health perception
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
Mental health is a major issue in both low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) (Kopinak,
2015;Katz et al.,2014;Ngui et al., 2010). Globally, the lifetime risk of the onset of mental
health issues is more than 25 percent and the majority of the individuals are directly or
indirectly influenced by these issues (Kessler et al.,2007). According to the results of the
World Mental Health Survey, approximately 85 percent of severe mental health issues in
LMIC received no therapeutic management during the past year (Ganasen et al.,2008).
Worldwide, it is now perceived that adverse mental health is the cause of discrimination in
society and a violation of human rights (Jiloha, 2010;Chua et al.,2019;Choudhry, Ming,
Munawar, Zaidi, Patel, Khan and Elmer, 2019). Increased rates of crimes are one of the
ultimate results of low mental health literacy (Zimmerman et al.,2015). Likewise, low mental
literacy is the cause of abuse in mental health care facilities which results in restraining or
chaining patients with mental disorders (Michael et al., 2012). Since the last few years,
mental health has remained a subject of debate in Pakistan (Naz and Khalily, 2016;
Choudhry and Bokharey, 2013;Choudhryet al., 2017, 2018). In the background of growing
Rubina Begum is Post graduate
research fellow at the Faculty of
Pharmacy, National University
of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.
Fahad Riaz Choudhry is based
at the Department of
Psychology, Kulliyyah of
Islamic Revealed Knowledge
and Human Sciences,
International Islamic University
Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. Tahir Mehmood Khan
is based at the Institute of
Pharmaceutical Sciences,
University of Veterinary and
Animal Sciences, Lahore,
Pakistan. Faizah Safina Bakrin
is based at School of
Pharmacy, KPJ Healthcare
University College, Nilai,
Malaysia.
Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi is
based at the Clinical Pharmacy
Department, College of
Pharmacy, University of
Science and Technology of
Fujairah, Fujairah, UAE.
Khadeeja Munawar is based at
the Department of Psychology,
University of Wah, Wah Cantt,
Pakistan and Jeffrey Cheah
School of Medicine and Health
Sciences, Department of
Psychology, Monash
University –Malaysia Campus,
Bandar Sunway, Malaysia.
Received 27 August 2019
Revised 28 October 2019
Accepted 2 November 2019
All authors have no conflict of
interest.
DOI 10.1108/MHRJ-08-2019-0026 VOL. 25 NO. 1 2020, pp. 63-74, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1361-9322 jMENTAL HEALTH REVIEW JOURNAL jPAGE 63
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