Centre For Focused Care, Rehabilitation Of Mentally Retarded Persons Demanded

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Sep, 2021 ) :Society for Special Persons (SSP) demanded of government to establish full-fledged Centre for proper care, protection and rehabilitation of mentally retarded persons.

South Punjab lacked any specific Centre for mentally retarded persons and they had to face many hardships, said Chairperson Society for Special Persons Zahida Hameed, while talking to APP here.

She stated that the Society for Special Persons, having over 20,000 members in south Punjab, was working for delivery of rights to special persons for last 14 years. Zahida Hameed stated although physically disabled persons find some relief from government or philanthropists, however, mentally retarded persons remained completely ignored in our society.

Usually, persons with mental disorder were found cornered at homes wherein they were served sedative medicines. Due to regular intake of sedatives, the mentally retarded persons spend most of their time in sleep, she added.

Similarly, such persons were also harassed by the members of their families which aggravated their woes further. Sometime, they have to face minor level torture from members of their family which cause further disturbance of their mental health.

Zahida was of the view that cerebral palsy and autism were emerging issues which require proper management at government level. She called for setting up of Centre for care, protection and systematic treatment of mentally retarded persons.

The centre should be equipped with modern facilities, psychologists, doctors and some other professionals to treat such persons and make them useful and productive citizens.

Zahida stated that mentally retarded persons were often faced with fits. To a query about any initiative by government, Zahida stated that government had established educational institutes for slow learners. She remarked that the slow learners were given attention for few hours in the institute.

Similarly, they face some social problems due to lack of awareness in society. She urged people to take maximum care of persons with mental disorder. The chairperson stated that there should be full-fledged Centre for mentally weak persons wherein they should undergo individual focus plan for management of their issues pertaining to mental health.

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