Perceptions of Pakistani community towards their mental health problems: a systematic review

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The objective of this research is to explore how Pakistani community perceive their mental health problems by systematically reviewing the scientific literature published on major databases. The findings expectedly will be useful for general public, for clinicians and for the researchers. Methods The methodology of this systematic literature search involved identifying and critically appraising studies that attempted to explore how Pakistani community perceives and understands its mental health problems. We carried out literature search on some major databases including PubMed, Cochrane database of systematic reviews and Google Scholar. We followed selection criteria where researchers aimed to find perceptions and understandings of Pakistani participants regarding their mental health by adopting scientific methodologies. The extraction of data was carried out after reading the selected papers and organising the findings under specific categories, in the form of a table. Data analysis was based on the information gathered from these studies. Results The results suggest that Pakistani community exhibits negligible to little understanding regarding their psychological experiences and emotional processes as separate identifiable entities. Nonetheless, multiple parallel sociocultural concepts such as religion or faith driven practices and mythical or supernatural understandings are highlighted by this research. These are accepted and practiced in order to address mental health problems. Conclusion It appears that Pakistani community has limited understanding and scarce vocabulary to describe their inner psychological and emotional experiences. However, in order to address the mental health issues, the community exhibits a variety of responses and reactions that are driven from several unique social, cultural and religious factors. Whether these are general perceptions or causations or protective factors towards illness or possible treatment options, they all are approached and addressed with some unique understandings and perceptions that are specific to this community.