Psychological Problems of Pakistani Youth April 6, 2010 The 39 million youth of the country, an enormous figure by itself even

numerical ly, has other than just career or educational problems. Youth is the period of t ime 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 problem s with anyone was dramatized in a puppet show presented at the launch of YHL (Yo uth 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 an d psychological problems followed by academic and reproductive physiology diffic ulties. We ve had cases like that with severe depression and suicide attempts. It takes qui te a few calls to clear their misunderstandings, it doesn t go away in one call, t hese myths and misconceptions have been ingrained in them so they keep questioni ng, 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 co unselling 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 produc t 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 providin g youth counseling nationwide. Till December 2008, YHL had received 28,471 counselling calls. Up till now the Y outh 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 ca llers call from other areas as well via mobiles on other landlines) as well as p artner NGOs working with young people all over the country, to access this facil ity, the Help line s outreach has been increased. Now young people, dialing from P TCL 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 ups et when my mother died. YHL was there in my hour of need, just letting me talk a nd offload. Another young boy said, When I was bullied at school for being overwei ght 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. Her e trained psychologists provide counselling and information on a range of issues such as lack of self confidence, peer pressure, inability to deal with family d ynamics and relationships, inability to cope with anger, information about sexua l and reproductive health, bullying, child sexual abuse, sexual and physical vio lence etc. in complete confidentiality. The psychologists are all qualified. Noo ria, a counsellor, has done her masters in developmental psychopathology (child and adolescent clinical psychology) from the National Institute of Psychology, Q uaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. I joined Rozan as an intern, did 4-months intern ship and then I joined as an assistant programme officer/psychologist. I went th rough a training process based on role-plays, reading meetings, listening to cou nselling 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 t his exceptional success story about a 15-year-old boy named Jamshed who called Y outh Help Line from a remote area of NWFP. He took the benefits of YHL a step fu rther by offering to be a long distance volunteer by sharing this service with o ther people from his town. For most young people who did not have a phone line i n their areas he openly offered people to contact the Youth Help Line through hi s home line.

Young people especially women flock to his house to make use of an opportunity t hey didn t have before. Unable to speak to him directly since YHL has strict confi dentiality 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, emoti onal and physical well being It also shows that there is someone who is listenin g to them. Saadia Usman Sheikh s