Mental health in Pakistan: the situation, the stigma, the law, and where to get help

Mental health in Pakistan is a widespread but largely untreated concern: roughly one in three adults currently lives with a mental or behavioural disorder, while the country has fewer than 500 psychiatrists and most people never receive care. Stigma, cost and distance keep the gap open. This guide covers the situation, the causes, the law and the practical routes to help.

If you are in crisis right now: call Rescue 1122 (or police on 15). For free counselling, call the Taskeen helpline on 0316-8275336, or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

This is a pillar guide. Where a topic has its own deep-dive, we link to it rather than repeat it. For the full data picture, see mental health in Pakistan, by the numbers.

How common are mental health issues in Pakistan?

Mental health issues in Pakistan are common, not rare. The National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, which interviewed nearly 18,000 adults across all four provinces between 2018 and 2022, found that about 32% of adults currently live with a mental or behavioural disorder and about 38% have had one at some point. In practice, that means almost every family is touched by it.

According to reporting on the survey's journal publication (October 2026), the study also found:

• One in five adults met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder.
• More than 10% had depression.
• 6% reported suicidal thoughts in the previous month.

Depression and anxiety are the conditions most people will recognise in themselves or someone close. If you are unsure whether what you feel is a rough patch or something more, our guide on signs of depression vs feeling low is a good place to start, and our anxiety treatment guide covers what helps with persistent worry and panic.

What causes mental health problems in Pakistan?

There is rarely a single cause. Mental health problems usually come from a mix of personal history, biology and the pressures of daily life. In Pakistan, the national survey found disorders were more common among older adults, people who were unemployed, those with lower income and education, and people who were widowed, divorced or separated — groups that often carry the heaviest financial and social strain.

Some pressures are worth naming specifically:

• Money and work. Unemployment and low income show up clearly in the survey data. Job insecurity and long hours are covered in our guide to workplace mental health in Pakistan.
• Disasters and displacement. After the 2022 floods, which affected at least 33 million people, Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas in Sindh saw more than 2,000 people seek psychiatric treatment between June and September 2022, according to Arab News (2022). Doctors linked the cases to financial stress and loss of security.
• Study and exam pressure. Students face their own mix of family expectations and competition; see our guide to student mental health in Pakistan.
• Relationships and loss. Separation, divorce and bereavement are among the factors linked to higher rates in the survey.

Why is mental health a taboo in Pakistan?

Stigma around mental health in Pakistan comes from a mix of spiritual explanations for illness, worry about family reputation, and low awareness of what treatment involves. As a result, many people first turn to faith healers or try to manage quietly at home, and reach a clinician only after years of struggling. The delay matters, because untreated conditions tend to become harder to treat.

A 2023 study of care pathways for psychosis in Karachi found that patients and families often contacted faith healers first, sometimes even without holding supernatural beliefs, simply because that was where community trust lay. One clinician in the study said it was “so common for patients to visit us after 8–10 years of illness.” The same study described stigma as a major barrier affecting families, communities and even some service providers.

The role of family

In Pakistan, decisions about health are often family decisions. That can be a real strength: the Karachi study found relatives were central to getting people diagnosed and supported. It can also be the main obstacle, when parents or in-laws see therapy as unnecessary or embarrassing. Faith and professional care do not have to be an either/or choice.

If the hard part for you is the conversation at home, our guide to talking to parents about therapy has scripts written for Pakistani families.

What does Pakistani law say about mental health?

Mental health laws in Pakistan are now mostly provincial. The federal Mental Health Ordinance 2001 replaced the colonial-era Lunacy Act 1912, but after the 18th Amendment made health a provincial subject, each province was expected to legislate for itself. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have passed their own acts; Punjab amended the 2001 Ordinance. Separately, the law on attempted suicide changed in 2022 and was challenged again in 2026.

From the Lunacy Act to provincial mental health acts

A 2016 review in BJPsych International explains that the Mental Health Ordinance 2001 replaced the Lunacy Act 1912, and that the Federal Mental Health Authority was dissolved on 8 April 2010 as health passed to the provinces. Since then:

The Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan acts each say that a person who attempts suicide should be assessed by an approved psychiatrist and, if found to have a mental disorder, treated under the act. Having a law on paper does not always mean it is fully implemented; the 2016 review described the overall legislative picture as “fragmented and unsatisfactory”.

Attempted suicide: decriminalised in 2022, restored by a court in 2026

Under Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code, attempting suicide was punishable by up to a year in prison, a fine, or both. In December 2022, President Arif Alvi approved the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2022, which repealed Section 325, as The Express Tribune reported.

On 18 May 2026, the Federal Shariat Court declared that repeal repugnant to Islamic injunctions and said Section 325 stands restored. In June 2026 the Pakistan Psychiatric Society appealed to the Supreme Court's Shariat Appellate Bench. Under Article 203D of the Constitution, a Federal Shariat Court decision is not meant to take effect while an appeal is pending, so the practical position is unsettled as of October 2026. If this affects you or someone close to you, speak to a lawyer. And whatever the legal position, please do not let it stop you from getting medical help: hospitals and helplines exist to treat you.

How big is the treatment gap?

The treatment gap in Pakistan is very large. A 2020 Lancet Psychiatry country profile noted fewer than 500 psychiatrists for about 200 million people, leaving more than 90% of people with common mental disorders untreated. Services are concentrated in big-city teaching hospitals, so distance is a barrier on top of stigma and cost.

• A 2025 review in Frontiers in Health Services puts the ratio at 0.19 psychiatrists per 100,000 people and mental health spending at 0.4% of the health budget, and notes that services are largely concentrated in the psychiatry departments of teaching hospitals.
• In 2022, Sindh had 145 psychiatrists, and more than 20 of its 30 districts had none, according to Arab News.

Psychiatrists are not the only people who can help: psychologists and therapists provide talking therapy, and psychiatrists handle diagnosis and medication. If the titles are confusing, see therapist vs counsellor vs psychiatrist.

Where can you get mental health help in Pakistan?

You have four main routes: a psychiatry department at a government hospital, a private psychiatrist or psychologist, an online therapy platform, or a helpline. They differ in cost, waiting time, privacy and language. For medication or severe symptoms, a psychiatrist is the right first step; for talking therapy, a psychologist or therapist; for an immediate crisis, a helpline or emergency department.

Long waits and high costs were both reported as barriers in the Karachi care-pathways study. Prices and waits change often, so ask before you book.

Practical next steps

1. If you are in danger now, call Rescue 1122 (or police on 15) or go to an emergency department. Our list of mental health helplines in Pakistan has more numbers.
2. If you need a diagnosis or medication, start with a psychiatrist, at a government or private hospital.
3. If you want talking therapy, read how to find a therapist in Pakistan for how to check credentials and what to ask in a first session.
4. If privacy or distance is the problem, consider online therapy in Pakistan.

How is mental health awareness in Pakistan changing?

Mental health awareness in Pakistan is growing, even if services have not caught up. Provincial laws now exist in every province, a national survey has finally measured the scale of the problem, and the debate over attempted suicide has put mental health into mainstream news. Researchers argue that the next step is bringing care closer to people through primary care, schools, community workers and telehealth.

The 2025 Frontiers review recommends training primary care workers, building school-based services, using supervised lay counsellors, expanding telemental health and running anti-stigma campaigns that involve religious leaders and community elders. None of that changes overnight. For an individual, the most useful thing is usually smaller: telling one trusted person, and booking one appointment.

How Safe Healing fits in

Safe Healing is one of the online options. We match adults in Pakistan with licensed therapists for private online sessions in Urdu or English, so you can talk from home without anyone seeing you walk into a clinic. After every session you get seven days of follow-up chat with your therapist, so you are not left on your own between appointments.

If you would like to see who might suit you, the intake takes a few minutes. Start the intake.

If you are in a mental health emergency, please contact Rescue 1122, the free Taskeen helpline (0316-8275336), or your nearest emergency department.

Sources

• ProPakistani (20 October 2026): Nearly 1 in 3 Pakistani adults suffers from a mental disorder — reporting on the National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey's journal publication.
• Sikander S. Pakistan. The Lancet Psychiatry (2020)
• Thompson AM, Saleem SM. Closing the mental health gap: transforming Pakistan's mental health landscape. Frontiers in Health Services (2025)
• Khan Z et al. Exploring biomedical and traditional care pathways for people with psychosis in Karachi, Pakistan. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2023)
• Tareen A, Tareen KI. Mental health law in Pakistan. BJPsych International (2016)
• The Sindh Mental Health Act 2013 (Sindh Act No. L of 2013)
• The Sindh Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2015
• The Punjab Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2014 (Act XI of 2014)
• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mental Health Act 2017 (Act No. XVII of 2017)
• The Balochistan Mental Health Act 2019 (Act IX of 2019)
• The Express Tribune (23 December 2022): Law penalising suicide attempts abolished
• Dawn (18 May 2026): Federal Shariat Court strikes down 2022 legislation decriminalising suicide attempt
• Dawn (24 June 2026): Psychiatrists challenge FSC ruling on suicide attempts
• Constitution of Pakistan, Part VII, Chapter 3A (Federal Shariat Court), Article 203D
• Arab News (8 October 2022): Pakistan confronts mental health crisis among survivors of deadly floods
• Taskeen: free mental health helpline (contact page)