Mental Health of Religious Minority Adolescents in Pakistan: a Comparative Study

Mental illnesses affect people from all social, economic, geographic, age, gender, religious, and occupational groups. Among several proactive factors minority status and related stressors are frequently reported to be linked with elevated mental illness of minority groups. In Pakistan, Non-Muslims are officially declared as the minority groups. Non-Muslims generally hold a relatively non-dominant position in all spheres of life. They abide certain dissimilarities in many domains like values, languages, customs, traditions, religious beliefs and practices. Along with their underprivileged minority status, these dissimilarities and socio-cultural marginalization may predispose them to encounter excessive psychological distress which may in turn place them for high risk of mental health problems. The phenomenon of minority status and its effects on mental health of Pakistani religious minority youth is thoroughly unexplored. The present work initiated to enlighten this imperative theme.