Anam Tanoli’s suicide is yet another reminder of how people can put on a facade and appear strong, only to be suffering in silence. PHOTO: INSTAGRAM

RIP Anam Tanoli: Worse than being a woman in Pakistan is being a victim of depression and bullying

Even after her tragic death, individuals on Twitter didn't refrain from targeting her and her decision to end her...

Dureen Anwer September 06, 2018
“Be grateful for what you have.”

“Always look at people who are less fortunate than you.”

“If you believed in God, you wouldn’t feel hopeless. You need to pray more – it’s the devil making you depressed and miserable.”

“It’s all in your head.”

“Stop being cynical, be positive.”

“Stop overthinking.”

“Stop overreacting.”

And here is the worst one,
“Stop pretending you have mental health issues to gain sympathy and attention!”

If you have ever had anxiety, depression, stress or any other mental health issues, I bet your Pakistani family, friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbours, or even complete strangers would have used at least one of the aforementioned phrases after becoming aware of your condition. Very rarely will you find individuals who have suffered from a mental health condition and received the support they needed, without anyone dismissing or underrating their symptoms.

People suffer, and they often suffer alone. It is extremely difficult to open up about your mental illness, especially in Pakistan, only to be told,
Pagal hai.”

(They’re crazy)

Unfortunately, people suffering from mental health issues are made to believe no one understands them. It’s a dark place to be. So dark, in fact, that sometimes to some people it might seem like the only way out is taking their life and ending their torment. According to the latest available data by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the annual rate of suicide in Pakistan is 2.9 per 100,000 people. Professor Murad Moosa Khan, President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, estimates that between 130,000 to 300,000 people are at risk of attempting suicide in Pakistan.

With such high numbers and the stigma surrounding mental illness in our society, it isn’t surprising that someone with a seemingly perfect life would attempt to end their own life. The recent case of Anam Tanoli’s suicide is yet another reminder of how people can put on a facade and appear strong, only to be suffering in silence. We are yet to find out the details of the circumstances of her suicide, but thus far it has been revealed she was a victim of online bullying and trolling.





The heart-wrenching case of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who committed suicide after cyber bullying, still haunts our memories. A study published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that cyber bullying raises the risk of self-harm or suicidal behaviour 2.3 times, revealing just how serious the issue has become.

This is unsurprising; after all, trolls are relentless on social media platforms. I have been targeted several times on Twitter for merely speaking my mind in the blogs I write. For some reason, people find it easier to harass and bully a complete stranger, instead of reading the entire piece and arguing logically in a civil manner. After receiving a lot of vitriol on my initial blogs, I decided to ignore the comments section altogether, only to find the bullies shifting platforms and finding me on Twitter to harass me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnRMXYZljz5/?hl=en&taken-by=mominamustehsan

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnQaOz4gUL7/?taken-by=mawrellous

Over the past several years, I have developed a thick skin, but there are still times when unnecessary remarks and jibes get under my skin. Unsolicited advice and commentary on how one should lead their life can be especially annoying, demoralising and simply abhorrent. When I was younger, I didn’t have the resilience I have now, and this makes me worry over how awful it must be for teens and youth these days, especially if they are vulnerable and happen to be in the public eye.

A talented woman who was only 26-years-old, Anam was hurting, and strangers on the internet – who didn’t know her, and were unaware of her story, her struggles, her dreams, her responsibilities and her capabilities – decided to hurt her even more. Just because she was a model and thus a public figure, the public thought they owned her life and had the right to take it away. Even after her tragic death, some individuals on Twitter aren’t refraining from targeting her and her decision to end her life. Not only do we lack empathy as a society, we are also great at passing the buck.





This is not an isolated case. Go to literally any female celebrity’s Instagram account, and you will see venom being spewed in the comments section. From someone’s appearance to their personal relationships and their career choices, unproductive keyboard warriors will criticise anything and everything. They will assassinate your character, mock your appearance, call you names, verbally attack your family, and even use religion to insult you if you are a public figure in Pakistan. The vitriol, after all, is always worse if you are a woman.

You know what else is worse if you are a woman in Pakistan? Suffering from a mental health condition. Your symptoms will often be dismissed as ‘your weakness’. If you display any signs of distress or anger, you will be labelled a rebel. “She is probably PMS’ing”, people will casually remark.

According to a study by The Burden of Mental Disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, women in Pakistan lost nearly 1.2 million life years (adjusted for disability) to depression in 2013, compared to men who lost around 495,000. Last year alone, 550 women were treated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for attempted suicide. You can imagine how high the numbers must be nationally.

As a society, we need to begin by eliminating the stigma around mental health, develop compassion for others, and train our brains to walk in other people’s shoes. We all need to come off our high horse and accept that none of us are perfect. Instead of dehumanising those who are suffering, we need to come to terms with the fact that mental health issues are health issues, are real issues. There isn’t an on/off switch in our brains we can flick to make things hunky-dory again.

We desperately need more mental health institutes, and yes, a 24/7 helpline would be brilliant as well, but more than anything else, the need of the hour is to find empathy within our hearts.
WRITTEN BY:
Dureen Anwer Dureen is a communications professional from Pakistan, now living in the UK. Having worked for a local government and now for the healthcare sector in England, she often wonders why Pakistan can't be developed like these Western countries. She tweets @ConfusciousDee (https://twitter.com/ConfusciousDee)
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (3)

Ahmar | 5 years ago | Reply A woman commits suicide in this country and it is a tragedy. Hundreds of men commit suicide in Pakistan every year and they are hardly a statistic.
Sheraz Khalid | 5 years ago | Reply And we need to stop cruel elite, from creating injustice, inequality and oppression in society.
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