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The term “Mental health literacy” is defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention. The importance of health literacy for physical health is widely studied; however, the area of mental health literacy in Pakistan has been comparatively neglected. The purpose of this paper is to address the knowledge about mental health in people living in Pakistan.

Relevant literature relating to mental health literacy was identified through various database searches. The databases searched included: PubMed, Cochrane database of Systemic Reviews, PsycINFO using the terms mental health, mental health literacy, mental health education, Pakistan.

Literature suggests that there is dearth of knowledge about mental illnesses and their treatment among public. This review also highlights the importance of mental health literacy among professionals working in the field of health care. In Pakistan, due to low literacy rate, a high percentage of poverty and dearth of trained professionals warrants an emendation in approaches established for attaining the goal of public health and psychiatric care.

Findings have implications for practitioners in the field of mental health care as well as designing targeted interventions for enhancing mental health literacy and help-seeking behavior in the future.

A limited understanding and lack of improvement in mental health literacy may interfere with society’s acceptance of evidence-based mental health care which may hamper the delivery of adequate mental health services to the needy.

This study aims to investigate the association between mental health and religion among Thailand’s elderly population. The role of religion and culture remains limited despite the significant number of devout followers of religions in Thailand. Thai cultural and religious contexts have a dominant and persuasive influence on the lives of Thai older adults.

Data was collected in 2018 via face-to-face interaction using a structured questionnaire by the Thailand National Statistical Office. The sample consisted of 67,454 individuals, with 13,800 elderly Thai people aged 60 years or older selected for the study.

The results showed logistic regression with the association between religious activities and mental health in the understudied context of Buddhist elderly in Thailand. The variables were significantly associated with mental health at a 95% confidence level.

The model revealed that particular demographic and socioeconomic factors (age, education and marital status) were related to mental health for older adults. Regression analysis also revealed Buddhist religious activities (giving food to monks, mediation, monkhood, New Year praying, learning Dhamma for solving life’s problems, belief in Buddhism and practicing Buddhist principles) were significantly associated with the mental health of the older adult population in Thailand.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into xylophagia, its treatment, intervention options, etiological causes and possible relationship with other diseases.

A systematic search was performed across four scientific databases (i.e. Ovid Medline, Embase via Ovid, PubMed and ProQuest). All of the qualitative studies reporting on xylophagia from the inception of databases until August 2019 have been included. The quality of included studies was assessed through a ten-item checklist given by Kmet et al. (2004).

A total of 18 studies were included, and five primary themes emerged after analysis: precipitation/onset of xylophagia, co-morbid psychiatric or medical illnesses, assessment and investigation modes to confirm diagnosis, outcomes of xylophagia and treatment options comprising medical care, psychological care, counseling and duration of recovery. There were 16 females and 9 males in included studies. The mean ages and standard deviations of males and females were 29.25(12.17) years and 32.81(11.92), respectively. The mean duration and standard deviation of paper pica were 4.80(4.27) years.

Despite the limitation that this meta-synthesis is based upon findings from case studies, results show that standardized medication regimens for treating xylophagia are still not available or are unknown. There is a dire need for further research in order to better understand the disorder. The healthcare professionals need to use reciprocal, mutually constituent influence of biological and sociocultural factors in order to screen, diagnose and manage complex psychological problems like xylophagia.

The findings advance our understanding of the positive effects of patients and family members undergoing counseling or cognitive behavior therapy in reducing stress and enhancing coping skills thus, avoiding self-damaging behaviors.

Problems related to sexual functioning have been reported in patients with anxiety disorders in general and panic disorder in particular. The past literature has shown the association of sexual conflicts of panic disorder patients with sadomasochism, and revealed the themes of: guilt, self-punishment, role of unconscious conflicts about sexuality, anger and separation. The purpose of this paper is to explore sexual conflicts in patients with panic disorder and their beliefs regarding guilt around sexual fantasies and dreams.

Interpretative paradigm and case study method was employed. For collecting data, semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed and subjected to within and cross-case analyses. Clarifying researcher’s bias and rich thick description were used for verification of data.

Cross-case analyses revealed themes of negative emotions, positive emotions and ambivalence. Negative emotions (i.e. guilt and anger) were experienced as threatening and harmful and caused distress to participants. Positive emotions, such as, satisfaction, pleasure and happiness were revealed in response to questions related to sexual fantasies, thoughts dreams, emotional attachment and sexual relations. Ambivalence was shown in response to questions related with reactions toward sexual fantasies, masturbatory practices, sexual relations and/or emotional attachment.

The participants of this study consisted of two self-selected individuals who had diagnosis of panic disorder with agoraphobia. The main limitation of the study is a small sample size comprising of men only. This research can provide grounds for more Asian studies in future especially by including females.

The findings point toward addressing sexual conflict in therapeutic intervention of panic disorder.

The findings have implications in society in expanding the awareness and knowledge about sexual conflicts in clinical population and general population suffering from anxiety symptoms.

This research study adds understanding of psychological issues in Pakistan’s socio-cultural context.