Karachi madrassa found to have 50% students with depression: study

Ten percent of students from one madrassa in Karachi have been found to have severe depression and the highest magnitude was in those who came from Balochistan (16%). These findings were published in a paper, ‘Depression Among Islamic Seminaries Students: A Cross Sectional Survey’ in the RADS Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences of Jinnah University for Women by researchers from Hamdard University in Karachi. This study was done from October to December 2017 at religious schools managed by Jamia-tur-Rasheed in north-west Karachi. They evaluated 321 students with an average age of 20 years. They were evaluated according to Beck’s Depression Inventory questionnaire that was translated into Urdu. The Balochistan students also had the highest moderate levels depression (25%). According to the clinical standard, called the DSM-IV, a person with a depressive episode has at least some of these symptoms for almost two weeks: a lack of mobility, low mood, change in sleeping and eating habits, lack of energy, and feelings of guilt and inappropriate thinking processes. About 1.9 million estimated people study in madrassas and they are mostly from poorer backgrounds. There are 850 registered seminaries and a large number of their students live there in dormitories.