{"title":"Mental hospitals in Pakistan: A historic perspective","authors":"Afzal Javed , Maryam Afzal , Nasar Sayeed Khan","doi":"10.1016/j.ajp.2025.104699","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although mental illnesses & their treatment have been described from ancient times in the Indian subcontinent, establishment of proper & formal institutions for the treatment of mentally ill has generally been attributed to the British rule. During their period, psychiatric services were started in the mental hospitals established by the East India Company. Post colonial period continued with expansion of such services both in India & Pakistan. At the time of independence in 1947, there were three mental hospitals in Pakistan situated in Lahore, Hyderabad and Peshawar & and a psychiatric unit at the Military Hospital in Rawalpindi. A fourth mental hospital was added to the list in the 1960s. A parallel movement was taking place with general hospital psychiatry and with an increased number of trained psychiatrists; at present almost all teaching hospitals in the country have psychiatric units This paper describes history of establishment of mental hospitals in Pakistan and their role in shaping mental health services in the country.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8543,"journal":{"name":"Asian journal of psychiatry","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 104699"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian journal of psychiatry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876201825003429","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although mental illnesses & their treatment have been described from ancient times in the Indian subcontinent, establishment of proper & formal institutions for the treatment of mentally ill has generally been attributed to the British rule. During their period, psychiatric services were started in the mental hospitals established by the East India Company. Post colonial period continued with expansion of such services both in India & Pakistan. At the time of independence in 1947, there were three mental hospitals in Pakistan situated in Lahore, Hyderabad and Peshawar & and a psychiatric unit at the Military Hospital in Rawalpindi. A fourth mental hospital was added to the list in the 1960s. A parallel movement was taking place with general hospital psychiatry and with an increased number of trained psychiatrists; at present almost all teaching hospitals in the country have psychiatric units This paper describes history of establishment of mental hospitals in Pakistan and their role in shaping mental health services in the country.
期刊介绍:
The Asian Journal of Psychiatry serves as a comprehensive resource for psychiatrists, mental health clinicians, neurologists, physicians, mental health students, and policymakers. Its goal is to facilitate the exchange of research findings and clinical practices between Asia and the global community. The journal focuses on psychiatric research relevant to Asia, covering preclinical, clinical, service system, and policy development topics. It also highlights the socio-cultural diversity of the region in relation to mental health.