Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: July 28, 2020 | 
Naveen Waqar as Sara in Humsafar
In 2017, the WHO reported that there were only 4 mental health hospitals, 344 care facilities for mental health patients and 654 psychiatric wards in all of Pakistan’s general hospitals. In the past few years, people in Pakistan have recently understood that discussions around mental health are important for the well-being of society. But while we are having conversations about mental health, our drama industry, which is one of the main forms of media consumption, still does not understand how to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
Hareem Zafar in 'Sanam' with Bipolar Disorder
Most, if not all our dramas have a flawed way of dealing with mental health issues, even to the point that they misrepresent them, making it all the more difficult for people to broach the subject with audiences. Psychologist Sana Faheem discussed some of these flawed approaches to the problem with Youlin.
In Sabaat, for example, a psychiatrist is shown to reciprocate the romantic feelings of one of his patients. "To begin with, not only is it inappropriate, it’s highly unethical," says Faheem. "A doctor or therapist cannot ethically allow a patient to continue having feelings for them, let alone reciprocate them."
Sara Khan as Miraal and Usman Mukhtar as her psychiatrist Dr. Haris in 'Sabaat'
Showing such a thing on TV encourages people to have negative associations with therapists, and discourages the need to seek professional help. Everyday people become wary of the intentions of doctors and therapists, taking the dialogue on mental health backward by a million miles.
Faheem also pointed out the misogyny that is blatantly obvious when it comes to mental health issues and gender. "When a woman has strong feelings for a man, she's crazy, be it Naveen Waqar's character from Humsafar, or any of the other female characters who become consumed by negative thoughts. A man, however, is seen to show his deep affection if he's obsessed with you."
Fahad Sheikh as Ahmer in 'Jalan'
Such has been the case in the recent drama, Jalan. One of the main characters Ahmer, once rejected by his fiancée, becomes obsessed with monitoring and controlling her behavior. Instead of being encouraged to seek closure and peace, he is enabled by those around him to continue this negative behavior. "If we set the reason for her rejection aside for a second, we see a man who cannot take no for an answer. This, however, is brushed off by his mother and sister as his deep affection for his former betrothed, rather than a sign of a disturbed mind. A much worse form of this obsession is seen in the drama, Deewangi," says Faheem.
Hiba Bukhari and Danish Taimoor in 'Deewangi'
What such storylines are showing is that a woman's obsession is self-annihilating, but a man's obsession is just romantic. Constantly being exposed to such double standards normalizes this kind of behavior. A negative repercussion of this is that women, even when their feelings and emotions are valid, are forced to think of the repercussions when speaking out about them.
When depicting the emotional trauma of a man after rejection by his love interest, there is little or no effort made to explore and understand his disturbed mental state. Recently they showed a man having an incorrectly-termed mental breakdown, once his wife refuses to take him back since he has been continuously abusive towards her. "A man having a panic attack because he has had to deal with the repercussion of his actions, is about as far as TV dramas would go in terms of tackling male mental crises. The actual resolution of these issues, and an effort on the man’s part to deal with his emotional problems is not something the storyline discusses."
Zahid Ahmed as a man with multiple personality disorder in 'Ishq Zahe Naseeb'
Faheem then pointed out that similar scenarios played out in Hasad, Jhooti and countless other dramas, where the villain ends up "going crazy", in layman terms, as a plot resolution. Their experience of a psychological breakdown seems to be an ultimate punishment, when in reality panic attacks neither rare nor indicative of only one illness. The characters never acknowledge their disturbed emotional state, and nor are they shown to take active steps against their irrational and vindictive actions.
"Writers need to learn that there are countless mental health issues that several people live with. Be it anxiety, depression, ADHD or OCD, there are so many illnesses that people live and function with, without realizing that they need treatment. No drama shows that. Why is there still no discussion that many mental disorders can be resolved with the help of mental health professionals?" asks Faheem.
Sonya Hussyn as a character with schizophrenia in 'Nazo'
Faheem believes that with the right kind of message about mental health, viewers can better understand how to deal with someone going through a difficult time in terms of their mental well-being, and how best to help them. It can help normalize the idea of wanting to seek help, and having an open and non-judgmental discussion on mental health.
Sanam Saeed as a woman struggling with depression in 'Akhri Station'
In terms of dramas, Faheem thinks that its high time that drama writers educate themselves about the breadth of mental health issues, and then creatively come up with storylines that tackle them. This can be something as simple as a plot that highlights body positivity and self-image, with a dark-skinned woman or an overweight woman, playing the lead role. It would also be refreshing to see a person with depression manage their predicament, and lead a healthy life with meaningful relationships. Such plots would be a refreshing change from an otherwise predictable storyline, and would play an important part in eliminating the shame associated with talking about mental health issues in our society.
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