Psychological
Problems of Pakistani Youth
The 39 million youth of the country,
an enormous figure by itself even numerically, has other than just career or
educational problems. Youth is the period of time when all kinds of emotional, mental
and physical problems surface. It is at this formative time they need attention
and care for their sound development.
How a young man commits suicide because he was never able to discuss his problems with anyone was dramatized in a puppet show presented at the launch of YHL (Youth Help Line). Forced into marriage, he commits suicide because he had trust in the popular myth that adolescent onanism made one impotent. With no one to talk to and friends who only mocked him for his supposed incapability he decides to end his life to avoid embarrassment. This is not fiction says Rabia Manzoor Khan, coordinator of YHL, with boys and girls calling in with mostly psychosexual and psychological problems followed by academic and reproductive physiology difficulties.
‘We’ve had cases like that with severe depression and suicide attempts. It takes quite a few calls to clear their misunderstandings, it doesn’t go away in one call, these myths and misconceptions have been ingrained in them so they keep questioning, but with each call the anxiety and guilt is decreased,’ says Rabia.
The youth is reaching out for help and the need for counselling has finally been given a push towards institutionalization. An unprecedented system for youth counselling was set up by the trailblazing NGO called Rozan in 2001. They started with only a few phone lines but humbly admit that their project was not a product of their own ingeniousness rather a demand of the youth that they met. But the truth is that they are the only organization that has taken the most important initiative to address one of the very fundamental needs of the youth by providing youth counseling nationwide.
Till December 2008, YHL had received 28,471 counselling calls. Up till now the Youth Help line’s toll free number could have been accessed only from PTCL landline numbers with area codes of 05 and 09 that cover entire NWFP, Northern Areas and parts of Punjab. Owing to the increasing demand of young people (many of the callers call from other areas as well via mobiles on other landlines) as well as partner NGOs working with young people all over the country, to access this facility, the Help line’s outreach has been increased. Now young people, dialing from PTCL landlines from anywhere in Pakistan, can access the Help Line’s number free of cost, whereas young people using mobiles will have to pay the regular landline charges.
This is what some young callers said about this facility, ‘I felt so angry and upset when my mother died. YHL was there in my hour of need, just letting me talk and offload.’ Another young boy said, ‘When I was bullied at school for being overweight the YHL counsellor gave me the confidence to stand up for myself.’
Youth Help Line’s service is now available seven days a week from 10am to 8pm. Here trained psychologists provide counselling and information on a range of issues such as lack of self confidence, peer pressure, inability to deal with family dynamics and relationships, inability to cope with anger, information about sexual and reproductive health, bullying, child sexual abuse, sexual and physical violence etc. in complete confidentiality. The psychologists are all qualified. Nooria, a counsellor, has done her masters in developmental psychopathology (child and adolescent clinical psychology) from the National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. ‘I joined ‘Rozan’ as an intern, did 4-months internship and then I joined as an assistant programme officer/psychologist. I went through a training process based on role-plays, reading meetings, listening to counselling calls of seasoned counsellors (especially on dealing with youth issues) and then I started counselling.’
Qualified counsellors’ treatment goes a long way. Their experienced help created this exceptional success story about a 15-year-old boy named Jamshed who called Youth Help Line from a remote area of NWFP. He took the benefits of YHL a step further by offering to be a long distance volunteer by sharing this service with other people from his town. For most young people who did not have a phone line in their areas he openly offered people to contact the Youth Help Line through his home line.
Young people especially women flock to his house to make use of an opportunity they didn’t have before. Unable to speak to him directly since YHL has strict confidentiality rules where they do not keep the contact of their callers, I was told he said in one of his phone calls to the YHL: ‘I feel so good about working with Youth Help Line and being able to provide some support to those around me.’
Rozan’s efforts can be seen as progress in terms of taking the youth seriously and providing services that will give the youth life long benefits of mental, emotional and physical well being … It also shows that there is someone who is listening to them.
How a young man commits suicide because he was never able to discuss his problems with anyone was dramatized in a puppet show presented at the launch of YHL (Youth Help Line). Forced into marriage, he commits suicide because he had trust in the popular myth that adolescent onanism made one impotent. With no one to talk to and friends who only mocked him for his supposed incapability he decides to end his life to avoid embarrassment. This is not fiction says Rabia Manzoor Khan, coordinator of YHL, with boys and girls calling in with mostly psychosexual and psychological problems followed by academic and reproductive physiology difficulties.
‘We’ve had cases like that with severe depression and suicide attempts. It takes quite a few calls to clear their misunderstandings, it doesn’t go away in one call, these myths and misconceptions have been ingrained in them so they keep questioning, but with each call the anxiety and guilt is decreased,’ says Rabia.
The youth is reaching out for help and the need for counselling has finally been given a push towards institutionalization. An unprecedented system for youth counselling was set up by the trailblazing NGO called Rozan in 2001. They started with only a few phone lines but humbly admit that their project was not a product of their own ingeniousness rather a demand of the youth that they met. But the truth is that they are the only organization that has taken the most important initiative to address one of the very fundamental needs of the youth by providing youth counseling nationwide.
Till December 2008, YHL had received 28,471 counselling calls. Up till now the Youth Help line’s toll free number could have been accessed only from PTCL landline numbers with area codes of 05 and 09 that cover entire NWFP, Northern Areas and parts of Punjab. Owing to the increasing demand of young people (many of the callers call from other areas as well via mobiles on other landlines) as well as partner NGOs working with young people all over the country, to access this facility, the Help line’s outreach has been increased. Now young people, dialing from PTCL landlines from anywhere in Pakistan, can access the Help Line’s number free of cost, whereas young people using mobiles will have to pay the regular landline charges.
This is what some young callers said about this facility, ‘I felt so angry and upset when my mother died. YHL was there in my hour of need, just letting me talk and offload.’ Another young boy said, ‘When I was bullied at school for being overweight the YHL counsellor gave me the confidence to stand up for myself.’
Youth Help Line’s service is now available seven days a week from 10am to 8pm. Here trained psychologists provide counselling and information on a range of issues such as lack of self confidence, peer pressure, inability to deal with family dynamics and relationships, inability to cope with anger, information about sexual and reproductive health, bullying, child sexual abuse, sexual and physical violence etc. in complete confidentiality. The psychologists are all qualified. Nooria, a counsellor, has done her masters in developmental psychopathology (child and adolescent clinical psychology) from the National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. ‘I joined ‘Rozan’ as an intern, did 4-months internship and then I joined as an assistant programme officer/psychologist. I went through a training process based on role-plays, reading meetings, listening to counselling calls of seasoned counsellors (especially on dealing with youth issues) and then I started counselling.’
Qualified counsellors’ treatment goes a long way. Their experienced help created this exceptional success story about a 15-year-old boy named Jamshed who called Youth Help Line from a remote area of NWFP. He took the benefits of YHL a step further by offering to be a long distance volunteer by sharing this service with other people from his town. For most young people who did not have a phone line in their areas he openly offered people to contact the Youth Help Line through his home line.
Young people especially women flock to his house to make use of an opportunity they didn’t have before. Unable to speak to him directly since YHL has strict confidentiality rules where they do not keep the contact of their callers, I was told he said in one of his phone calls to the YHL: ‘I feel so good about working with Youth Help Line and being able to provide some support to those around me.’
Rozan’s efforts can be seen as progress in terms of taking the youth seriously and providing services that will give the youth life long benefits of mental, emotional and physical well being … It also shows that there is someone who is listening to them.
