RAWALPINDI: While experts warn that self-isolation and social distancing during long virus lockdowns could trigger symptoms of anxiety and depression among people, they list a number of practices to beat stress out of life.
Building “mental immunity,” at a time when physical immunity has taken center stage is critical to one’s well-being, said Islamabad-based psychotherapist, Nida Maqbool.
“What most people do not realize is that our mental immunity and physical immunity are interlinked,” Maqbool told Arab News over the phone. “If we are not mentally fit, we also feel physical repercussions.”
Another Islamabad-based counselor, Farah Rehman, who operates out of Therapy Works in the nation’s capital said, “Building physical and mental immunity can give quite a relief to anxiety whether it’s working on your fitness or writing down what you are grateful for. Another great tool is meditation.”
A few weeks ago, Pakistanis began following the World Health Organization’s guidelines of social distancing and self-isolation in order to help combat the spread of coronavirus, a hard adjustment to normal practice.
Provinces in Pakistan announced lockdowns, shops other than pharmacies and grocery stores were shuttered and, while all of this was done to keep Pakistanis safe, the situation triggered anxiety, stress and depression among many in the absence of usual social interactions.
“Humans are not meant to be completely isolated,” Omar Bazza, a clinical therapist practicing in Toronto, told Arab News over the phone. “Distancing and social isolation can indeed trigger a lot of anxiety and depression symptoms.”
In addition to forgoing social interactions, even those as simple as bumping into friends somewhere, there is the added stress of lost jobs, bills piling up, uncertainty of the future and the desire to keep the family safe.
“These concerns can easily trigger or even create anxiety. We are starting to see depression and anxiety in people who previously never experienced issues with their mental health,” said Bazza to Arab News.
“I have seen some of my depression make a comeback,” said Roshaan Amber, an Islamabad-based telecom worker, about being stuck at home. “Previously, I went for therapy to deal with anxiety and my depression was under control. But being at home all the time has once again stimulated it.”
Anousheh Azra works with the banking sector, one of the few areas of economy that have been deemed essential and therefore keeping people like her out of home. Yet, she is required to practice social distancing which, she believes, is making her life immensely difficult.
“I feel constantly exhausted, no matter how well rested I am,” she told Arab News. “I feel anxious.”
Maqbool suggests that “We all need to realize that we are going through trauma at a global level.” “We need to give ourselves the space to feel this.”
She recommends setting strict boundaries to exercise self-discipline like the one she has for herself where only a small portion of the day is dedicated to reading the news and where friends and family have been told that if they want to have a chat they need to discuss something other than the coronavirus. “If I am not in a good mental space myself, I cannot help my clients who are looking to me as a source of peace and safety.”
Maqbool has joined many people across the globe by using the Internet and digital platforms to reach her clients. She brings 80 percent of her clients to work with her online and sees 20 percent of them in person at her home, though “we keep a distance of five feet and meet in my lawn.”
Rehman said that “helping the underprivileged while staying within one’s capacity” can also tend to ease anxiety and depression. Another healthy indulgence is helping family members or friends passing through a tough time in isolation by “staying in touch virtually whether it’s a phone call or video chat and of course through social media,” said added.
Online resources for stress inoculation are available as well, though one should be cautioned to make sure the source of the website is legitimate and attached to medical or mental health professionals.
Beat stress with self-discipline, meditation during lockdown — Experts
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Beat stress with self-discipline, meditation during lockdown — Experts
- Self-isolation and social distancing may lead to tremendous mental pressure among many
- Experts say building physical and mental immunity can relieve anxiety and stress
Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir sets sights on T20 World Cup after comeback
- Amir played his first T20 international match for Pakistan on Thursday after a nearly four-year hiatus
- Pacer says he feels his body is fitter compared to 2019 when he last played for Pakistan in a World Cup
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Amir said this week he has set his sights on the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, as he gears up to mark his return to international cricket after a nearly four-year hiatus.
The 32-year-old pacer played his first match on Thursday against New Zealand in Rawalpindi but did not bowl a single delivery as rain suspended play during the first over of the match.
Amir, one of Pakistan’s most prolific fast bowlers, retired in December 2020 after being dropped from the side. He changed his mind last month and decided to restart his career, which had also been stalled by a spot-fixing ban in 2010.
“The way the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management brought me back, it is for a short-term goal, the [T20] World Cup,” Amir told PCB Digital in an interview on Friday. “And that is the biggest goal.”
The left-arm pacer pointed out that Pakistan had played in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2021 and competed in the final of the T20 World Cup in 2022. However, it had failed to “cross the line” and become world champions on both occasions.
“If that happens [Pakistan win the World Cup] it would be a huge achievement for me, to be a part of that team,” he said.
Amir said he feels he is much fitter compared to 2019 when he last represented Pakistan in a World Cup tournament.
“See, you cannot express yourself properly in the ground until you’re fit,” he said. “So I feel the way my body feels fresh right now, I can chip in more and prove beneficial to the team via my performance.”
The pacer credited his wife and children for helping him stay positive.
“She makes sure that all my focus is on cricket,” he said. “I think that always gives me energy and helps me to face whatever I have to.”
Pakistan face New Zealand in the second T20 fixture of the five-match series in Rawalpindi today, Saturday. The two sides will lock horns in Rawalpindi on April 21 before meeting for the remaining two fixtures in Lahore on April 25 and 27.
Teams:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi
New Zealand: Michael Bracewell (captain), Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi
Pakistan’s finmin discusses energy, tax reforms with senior World Bank official
- Pakistan has vowed to broaden its tax base, reform energy sector and privatize loss-making state-owned entities
- Pakistan’s finance minister is in Washington to attend spring meetings by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb underlined the government’s resolve to carry out reforms in the energy and tax sectors in his meeting with a senior World Bank official this week, the finance ministry said on Saturday, as Islamabad grapples with an economic crisis amid surging inflation and low foreign exchange reserves.
Reeling from a macroeconomic crisis, Pakistan has assured international financial institutions and bilateral partners it would take concrete measures to broaden its tax base, carry out reforms in the energy sector and overhaul loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Aurangzeb has been in Washington since last week to participate in spring meetings organized by the IMF and World Bank. His tour is an important one for the South Asian country as Pakistan’s ongoing nine-month, $3 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund designed to tackle its balance-of-payments crisis, expires this month.
Aurangzeb met Martin Raiser, the World Bank’s regional vice president for South Asia, on Friday to discuss the government’s economic reforms.
“Underlined the reform thrust of the government in the areas of energy, tax reforms and SOEs,” the finance ministry said. “Informed that government was pursuing short and long-term goals in these sectors.”
Aurangzeb said the World Bank’s focus on climate change, digitalization and human development aligns with Islamabad’s priorities, highlighting the government’s vision to realize the country’s true potential for economic growth.
“Agreed on the need for reforms in the agriculture sector, water management and waste-water treatment,” the ministry said.
Aurangzeb met World Bank’s President Ajay Banga on Tuesday during which he spoke about the government’s reforms in tax and energy sectors and highlighted Pakistan’s progress on privatization of government entities.
In an interview on Monday, the Pakistani finance minister had said Islamabad would seek a fresh three-year IMF program, adding that the government plans to continue with necessary policy reforms to rein in deficits, build up reserves and manage soaring debt servicing.
In a separate statement, the finance ministry said Aurangzeb met China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on Friday. During the exchange, the Pakistani finance chief thanked his Chinese counterpart for Beijing’s regular rollovers which helped plug Pakistan’s external financing gaps.
“Informed that Pakistan was entering into a larger and extended program with IMF and looked forward to the support of China,” the ministry said, adding that he highlighted the government’s economic reforms in various sectors during his meeting with the Chinese official.
Pakistan to train 1 million youth annually to export skilled human resource to Gulf countries
- Islamabad is planning to roll out a new education policy next month, with a focus on vocational training and out-of-school children
- Educationists, however, say the real challenge for the government is to ensure implementation of the policy, focus on teacher training
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is working on a new education policy to impart technical skills to one million youth annually to export trained human resource to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, an official said on Friday.
The cash-strapped South Asian nation of 241 million has been working on a holistic national education policy to cover technical training for the youth by enrolling over 2.5 million out-of-school children.
The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a federal body led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to attract investment from foreign and domestic sources, has given specific targets to the education ministry to finalize a comprehensive policy to improve the education sector.
“This new policy aims to impart vocational training to at least one million youth per annum to export skilled workforce to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries,” Rana Mujtaba, a spokesperson for the Pakistani ministry of education and professional training, told Arab News.
“It will be rolled out in May.”
There are around 9 million overseas Pakistanis living and working in different countries, including 2.8 million in Saudi Arabia, who remit around $30 billion back home annually to support the country’s fragile economy.
“Majority of our overseas workforce is unskilled labor. Therefore, the government is now focusing on enhancing vocational capacity of the youth,” Mujtaba said.
In the National Education Policy 2017-2025, Pakistan aimed to raise its literacy rate from the existing 60 percent to 90 percent by 2025, narrow down the gender gaps, reduce rural and urban imbalance, improve quality of education, promote technical and vocational education with skill development programs, and ensure good governance. But all this has yet to be achieved.
Mujtaba said Pakistan’s vocational training institutes already had a “strong affiliation” with Saudi Arabia, where all training certificates were accepted.
“The SIFC that is chaired by the PM has given a general direction to the ministry to work on a new education policy to improve the sector’s performance,” he said.
The spokesperson dispelled the notion that the education ministry was working on the new education policy without taking provincial governments on-board, since education has primarily been a provincial subject in the South Asian country.
“The federal government is in fact supporting the provinces in improving the education sector. All provincial ministers and education secretaries are on-board as the federal ministry has sought inputs from all of them,” he said.
“This will be a holistic policy that will also address the issue of out-of-school children, improving the higher education’s standards, domestic and foreign scholarships for the students.”
Educationists and public policy experts said the government had already devised numerous policies and produced documents to improve the education sector, but it would lack in implementation of these plans.
“The silver lining in the new policy is that the government is for the first time focusing on out-of-school children, but there needs to be an effective mechanism in place with clear timelines to address this issue,” Taimur Bandey, an educationist, told Arab News.
“The government needs to allocate its resources for teachers training and upgrade libraries and laboratories in the institutions to improve the education standards.”
Pakistani PM orders authorities to expedite anti-smuggling operations amid economic crisis
- PM Sharif chairs high-level meeting to review progress on countrywide anti-smuggling measures
- Orders effective monitoring of the Afghan transit trade, action against smugglers and hoarders
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered law enforcement agencies to expedite Pakistan’s nationwide anti-smuggling campaign, state-run media reported this week, as Islamabad tries to navigate a tricky path to economic recovery.
Pakistan’s caretaker administration announced a countrywide crackdown against smuggling and black marketing in September 2023 as the South Asian country reeled from an economic crisis that has seen its foreign exchange reserves plummet, currency devaluate sharply and inflation rise to record highs.
PM Sharif’s government has vowed to continue the country’s anti-smuggling operations to ensure Pakistan makes steady economic progress.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the law enforcement agencies to expedite the countrywide anti-smuggling campaign,” the state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Friday. It said the development took place during a high-level meeting chaired by Sharif in Islamabad on Friday to review the anti-smuggling operations in the country.
In October last year, Pakistan imposed a 10 percent processing fee on several items imported from Afghanistan under a transit trade agreement to stop the illegal entry of goods from the country. In the meeting on Friday, Sharif ordered authorities to ensure effective monitoring of the Afghan transit trade items to prevent their smuggling.
“He directed the customs authorities to conduct a third-party audit of the system that monitors Afghan transit trade,” state-run media said.
Authorities told Sharif during the meeting that a list of smugglers, hoarders and their facilitators has been prepared and provided to law enforcement agencies and provinces.
The Pakistani prime minister appreciated law enforcement agencies for taking effective action against smuggling and ordered authorities to enhance cooperation to crack down on the illegal activities.
Pakistan urges climate change collaboration with UAE after record rains hit Gulf nation
- The storm first hit Oman over the weekend, before pounding the UAE on Tuesday with its heaviest rains in 75 years
- PM Shehbaz Sharif telephoned the UAE president, called for collective actions after rains kill over 70 people in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday telephoned United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and urged collaboration between the two countries to tackle impacts of climate change, Pakistani state media reported, days record-breaking rains hit the Gulf nation.
The United Arab Emirates was still grappling on Friday with the aftermath of a record-breaking storm this week, with the main road connecting Dubai, the most populous emirate, with Abu Dhabi partially closed for traffic.
The storm first hit Oman over the weekend, killing at least 20 people, before pounding the UAE on Tuesday with its heaviest rains in 75 years of records. Scientists blame increasingly common extreme weather events, such as the rains in UAE and Oman, on human-led global warming.
During the telephonic conversation, Sharif lauded the UAE president for his “outstanding leadership qualities” and strong commitment to ensure the welfare of the Emirati people, the state-run APP news agency reported.
“The prime minister said that Pakistan had also witnessed heavy rains in recent days, resulting in loss of many precious lives,” the report read.
“He called for collective actions to combat the challenge of climate change and suggested that both countries strengthen their collaboration in the field.”
Pakistan has been prone to natural disasters and consistently ranks among one of the most adversely affected countries due to the effects of climate change. Torrential rains have killed more than 70 people in the South Asian country this month, according to authorities.
The UAE president appreciated the prime minister’s good wishes and reciprocated the warm sentiments for the people affected from rains and flooding in Pakistan, according to the APP report.
“Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation in multifaceted areas,” it added.
