Editorial
The latest figures released by the Edhi Foundation Lahore present a disturbing picture of a society under silent strain. In 2025 alone, at least 116 people took their own lives in Lahore. The numbers include 83 men and 33 women. Behind each statistic lies a story of pain, isolation, and failure of support. This is no longer an individual tragedy. It is a collective social crisis.
The data shows that suicides occurred throughout the year, cutting across months without pause. Peaks in May and steady figures across other months suggest that despair is not seasonal but structural. Edhi officials point to domestic disputes, financial stress, and personal problems as recurring causes. These are not random factors. They reflect deeper social, economic, and political pressures that continue to squeeze ordinary lives.
Pakistan has long treated mental health as a private issue or a moral weakness. This approach is no longer sustainable. Mental health is deeply connected to economic insecurity, unemployment, inflation, family breakdown, and the absence of social justice. When people feel unheard, unsupported, and trapped, psychological distress becomes unbearable. Suicide then appears, tragically, as an escape.
Addressing this crisis requires more than helplines and hospital wards. It demands a shift in public policy. Mental health services must be accessible, affordable, and stigma free. At the same time, economic justice must reduce the pressures that push families into conflict and individuals into despair. Political systems must restore trust and dignity so citizens feel they matter.
Schools, workplaces, religious institutions, and media all have a role to play in normalising conversations around mental health. Silence has cost too many lives already. The Edhi report should serve as a wake up call. Pakistan cannot heal its people without addressing injustice in society. Mental health is not a side issue. It is the foundation of a stable, humane, and hopeful future.
