DESPONDENCY (MENTAL DEPRESSION)

 FARID UD DIN

The issue of despondency (mental depression) is one that comes up every now and then in our country. Surveys on this issue suggest every fourth or fifth citizen suffers depression in some form or other. A recent report, funded by a Swiss agency states that 48.6 percent of people lack access to sufficient food. There are other studies that speak of growing unemployment, increased fiscal tensions within the households, and with these a soaring rate of suicide. According to figures maintained by human rights groups, the number of those committing or attempting to commit suicide is rising steadily from year to year. Moore than 1000 persons kill themselves every year. It is likely that many other cases go unreported. These are not trivial facts. They reach out from beyond the social domain into the sphere of events that take place across the country. The brainwashed young bombers who break into places of worship or detonate the jackets in crowded market places are the product of such despondency.

Extremist ideas and a willingness to throw in one's lot with groups such as the Taliban are rooted in the notion that there is no hope, no opportunity in the country. This too is a factor in the soaring rate of crime. When it becomes too difficult for people to make ends meet through lawful means, they turn to unlawful acts. The tens of thousands desperate to leave the country at all costs are caught in a similar net: they see no prospects at home and believe an exit to foreign shores offers the only hope of progress for themselves. The situation we face today leads more and more of us to wonder if things can ever change. Many believe the difficulties we confront are so acute that there is little hope of improvement.

The economic decline we face is an element in this. So is the lack of faith in the ability of the government to deliver or to bring about any change for the better. Perhaps we should not wait for the government to act. Citizens must seize the initiative. We need more ideas to be formulated, more strategies to be devised. Pakistan after all has potential and promise. It is already emerging as a center for IT-related activities. As the world's sixth most populous nation it has a huge reserve of manpower to offer to the industry. To unleash this potential and to dispel despondency, we need education and the creation of opportunity. The two of course go side by side. Think tanks that can put forward viable solutions could play a role in promoting strategies that could bring change and help Pakistan emerge as a nation where rainbows of hope are not shrouded by dark clouds that constantly shower down rain.