EFFECTS OF SUICIDE BOMBING ON MENTAL HEALTH IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Authors

  • Mehwish Saleem Department of Social Work, University of Karachi
  • Shuja ur Rehman Department of Sociology, Karakorum International University Diamer Campus, Chilas
  • Muhammad Tahir Department of Sociology, Karakorum International University Diamer Campus, Chilas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52567/pjsr.v3i02.208

Abstract

Pakistan passed through a very critical situation due to terrorism. The most lethal attempts were suicide bombings, which jolted Pakistani society, and the population faced severe mental health issues. This paper attempts to find out the psychological effects of suicide terrorism in Karachi. The present study has been conducted in Karachi city. This is an exploratory study in nature. The target population comprised of victims who had been directly affected by suicide terrorism in Karachi from 2008 to 2014. The study has a sample size of 118 and data was collected through a well-structured questionnaire by using the snowball sampling technique. A quantitative research design has been used to examine the psychological impact of suicide terrorism in Karachi.  One hundred and eighteen respondents were included in the present study. A majority of them were male with monthly household income between 31,000-40,000 PKR, showing that most of the victims belonged to the lower-middle-class of society. The overwhelming number of the respondents having individual demised or injured in the suicide bombing were the household earners consequently resulting in emotional and financial crises. Most of the respondents (48.30%) reported that they or their family member’s experienced severe depression followed by mood swings. Most of the victims of suicide bombing are missing their household earners or the head of the family. As a result, they suffered from mental disturbance. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was high after the incident among the victims and their families.

Keywords: Suicide bombing; Psychological impacts; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Victims, Karachi

Author Biographies

  • Mehwish Saleem, Department of Social Work, University of Karachi

    PhD Scholar

  • Shuja ur Rehman, Department of Sociology, Karakorum International University Diamer Campus, Chilas

    Assistant Professor

  • Muhammad Tahir, Department of Sociology, Karakorum International University Diamer Campus, Chilas

    Lecturer

Additional Files

Published

2021-06-30

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 02 (2021): Pakistan Journal of Social Research (PJSR)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Mehwish Saleem, Shuja ur Rehman, Muhammad Tahir

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

[1]
“EFFECTS OF SUICIDE BOMBING ON MENTAL HEALTH IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN”, Pak. J, Soc. Sci., vol. 3, no. 02, pp. 94–100, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.52567/pjsr.v3i02.208.