Reading newspapers at the breakfast table is an eerie experience. You are served with a mix of blasts, shootings and abductions with your morning tea. Starting the day with a bad taste in the mouth is not a good omen for mental health. It leads to brutalisation.

While the crises are too many to be enumerated, priority must be given to the demon of extremism, which is haunting both state and the society. Fears are being expressed that Pakistan is hurtling towards the void of a failed state like Chad, with grave consequences for the country and the world. More importantly, lack of security brutalises a society, breeding a community of the mentally sick. Security of the state is important as it serves social security.

Pakistan has an elected democratic government in place. But this government was kick-started. It has still to grow roots. A year-or-so-old sapling can not be compared but only contrasted to centuries-old democracies. It has to be nurtured rather than being condemned.

State institutions are rusted. A proper balance is not found in the trinity of the legislature, executive and judiciary. A backlog of crisis has forced the judiciary to act in a way perceived by many as judicial activism. However, decisions would serve the country better if they are forward-looking rather than simply being right.

Moreover, there are other power centres that clamour to be heard. Hopefully, the army is learning to locate its concerns for national security within the parameters of the Constitution. The president, however, has been speaking of threats from unspecified sources. If the threat is of derailing the democratic process, it is the concern of parliament as a whole, the ruling coalition and opposition and not that of the president alone.

There are other power centres that influence public opinion. One is media, especially the electronic media, and the other ungovernable spaces, safe havens for extremists including the urban no-go-areas. They encroach on the security of the state as well as the security of society.

Traumas of the past have taught political parties the virtues of co-existence. The government and parliamentary opposition agree to disagree. The world environment has also improved. US President Obama finds democracies in other countries in the US interest. He says, “Like it or not, if we want to make America more secure, we are going to have to help make the world more secure.” May be, America now addresses some of its sins.

It is sad to note that citizens do not enjoy the modicum of social security available to them in pre-independence days. With the erosion of representative government in the country for long periods, the inherited quantum of law and order, justice, energy, education and health facilities have all deteriorated.

The Feb 2008 elections gave us new hope. But many negative perceptions persist. For instance, no one doubts the geo-strategic importance of Pakistan. It provides a vital regional link. It can be used for facilitating the neighbourhood and cementing ties between countries, but it can also be used negatively for destroying the normal flow of trade, culture and people, as many regimes in Pakistan have done.

The lack of social security brutalises citizenry. It gives rise to mass hysteria and stress-related mental disorders in individuals and communities. A psychology moot in Islamabad noted a few years back that stress-related disorders in Pakistan are at 40 per cent of the 180 million people. Experts insist that it has grown further. Seven hundred thousand young people are said to be affected. Insecurity and uncertainty are the main reasons of stress and relapse is frequent. Thousands of talented people in the country fell victim to mental diseases after being tortured by intelligence agencies. From being an asset, they become a liability to the society. It isn’t rhetoric any more to say that milk of human kindness is an essential ingredient of healthy living.

While there is consensus that mental disorders are on the rise, Dr Shifa Naeem, a psychologist, refused to quantify it. She wanted it to be left to experts while concerned people should address its socio-economic roots. Dr Haroon Ahmed, a senior psychologist, retorted to my question regarding brutalisation by posing a counter-question: “What will happen when this sick generation is called up to guide society?”One can only hope for the best.

The writer is a freelance contributor.