Mental health is a significant health issue that the people in Pakistan are facing. However, it’s rare for them to acknowledge and do something about it. Often, it is an ignored element, and people prefer not to talk about it. One specific category of the sufferers of psychological issues is the special students, who mostly have no clue how to deal with it. In this article, we shall try to understand the mental health needs of special students in Pakistan and what can be done to help them.
To start, let’s discuss the biggest issue faced by students with physical disabilities: social isolation. As these students are deemed ‘different’ from other members of society, they are often treated differently. In the long run, this tends to take a toll on their mental health. Social isolation leads to them feeling excluded from most of the social settings.
What further aggravates it is the inadequate provision of mental health services to these students. As they feel ignored and lost with no real solution to their problem, dealing with such a life gets more challenging. Eventually, they resort to isolating themselves completely or taking other drastic steps.
Primary Mental Health Issues Faced By Students With Disabilities
Here are some significant mental health issues that students with disabilities in Pakistan face:
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Dealing With Stigmas Everyday
The mindset of people residing in South Asia, particularly Pakistan, is quite backward, especially in terms of associating stories with disabilities. They attribute these disabilities to the consequences of some ‘sin’ or ‘misconduct’ by the affected in the past.
With mental health issues, the point of view of the people further gets caustic, and they consider only faith healing a possible solution to it. A lot of times, this discourages the surfers from taking any kind of health at all, and this double stigma stays with them for life.
Owing to these stigmas, the education system of Pakistan doesn’t act inclusive in many ways. A lot of times, the students and teachers showcase their biases, which tends to affect special students negatively. Things build up slowly, and they even abandon their educational journeys.
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Unavailability of Resources
People with disabilities, especially those with mental health issues, have no proper source of earning and are primarily dependent on others. They have meager sources to finance their lifestyle, which makes it almost impossible for them to pay for mental health treatments. As these treatments, including medication, therapy, and counseling, come with a cost, opting for it, most of the time, is challenging for students.
Things get even more challenging for students who live in rural areas or far-flung places in Pakistan. Specialized services in those areas are almost non-existent, which doesn’t leave many options for those with mental health challenges.
This is when Sehatyab comes to the rescue. This online consultation source lets them connect with even the best psychologists in Pakistan without paying much money.
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Lack of Awareness
Another major problem that students with disabilities in Pakistan have to deal with is the lack of awareness regarding mental health. No proper and knowledgeable resources in Pakistan can spread factual information regarding this problem. Even the Pakistan education system does not play a positive role in this regard, as nothing substantial is a part of the curriculum. Seminars and events regarding psychological issues faced by students with disabilities are also very rare.
Students with disabilities also have no information regarding Disability rights in Pakistan. They have no idea about the rights and privileges set by the government. Resultantly, they can’t raise their voice when something wrong is being done to them.
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Widespread Discrimination
Lack of educational accessibility regarding mental health doesn’t let the general public have an awareness regarding this issue. This, then, leads to bias and discrimination against people going through psychological challenges. With excessive degradation, the victims end up with low self-esteem issues that further lead to anxiety and frustration.
In societies like Pakistan, these issues are gendered as well. One can easily observe that women are more impacted by their physical disabilities than men. Mostly, it is because finding jobs is more challenging for them, whereas men can get jobs comparatively quickly. It burdens their families, leading them to become entirely dependent on their families.
Lack of empathy, gendered discrimination, insufficient educational resources, and unavailability of professional services are some significant concerns of special people that aggravate their mental health issues.
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The need of the time is to spread awareness regarding psychological issues faced by people with disabilities in Pakistan. Though people with disabilities can’t be cured permanently, helping them regulate their psychological issues would be a great aid to them. It would surely help them improve their quality of life.
Final Thoughts
Special people find it challenging to leave their homes and travel long distances to meet mental health experts. Sehatyab comes to their rescue and provides the best online psychologists and psychiatrists from the country within their reach. It is an online platform with various mental health experts with varied specializations and expertise. It is a blessing for those with limited access and reach.