Social problems in Pakistani psychiatric patients

The paper presents a case register-based descriptive survey of social problems of general hospital psychiatric patients in Pakistan. 47.2% of psychiatric patients had a social problem. Problems with primary support group occurred in 33.4%, 14.2% had relational problems and 7.8% had problems relating to bereavement or death. Social problems were more common in females and patients who had adjustment disorder or depression. Psychiatric patients had more social problems than those who were diagnosed as having a physical problem only. Female depressed patients experienced problems with their in-laws more frequently than other types of social problem. The implications are that: i) some DSMIV categories require changing to make them more internationally applicable; ii) specific psycho-social inquiry during psychiatric diagnostic interviews is essential; iii) grief counselling and family therapy are important psychotherapeutic needs of Pakistani psychiatric patients; iv) these, in turn, indicate priorities in mental health professional training curricula.