In the past, the government of Pakistan has attempted to make progress in the area of mental health by introducing the Mental Health Ordinance on February 20, 2001. When this ordinance came into effect, The Lunacy Act of 1912, enacted by the colonial government, consequently stood repealed. However, the situation is still far from satisfactory, since psychiatric departments tend to be under staffed and to lack basic facilities. Chance has been slowMental patients in Pakistan live between divine and curse. While mental health treatment in Pakistan has improved in cities there are still not enough resources to take care of them.

A mental patient counting the minutes of his existence at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health. Lahore. Punjab, Pakistan

A ray of light bathes the thoughts of a group of mental patients at the mental asylum of Edhi Village. Located 56 miles beyond Karachi’s city limits on the Super Highway, the centre has scant medical services, provides no vocational or educational training and inadequate recreational facilities. The reason appears to lie in the absence of state support, the lack of resources and a citizenry uninterested in the fate of the people who fall between society’s cracks. Sindh. Pakistan.

A mental patient smoking a cigarette at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health. Given the insecurity and conflict that grip Pakistan today, it is likely that the ‘burden of mental disorders

A detail of a patient at the Shrine of Baba Haji . The patients are chained at the shrine for seven consecutive days and nights. Local beliefs say that they recover through spiritual power. Punjab. Pakistan

A mental patient walking on his knees at the Shrine of Baba Haji The mental shrine has not improved his mental condition but has developed it further. Punjab. Pakistan.

The wife of Allah Rakha taking care of him. Besides his long illness, she has decided to be with him until the end. Allah Rakha visited a lot of hospital but with not good results. His relatives are still trying to find the way to heal him. One neighbored and closed friend told them to bring Rakha to the shrine. Multan. Punjab. Pakistan.

A mental patient at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health is tortured by his thoughts.

A mental patient is chained in a small cell at The Shrine of Baba Haji. The barriers are not only mental; society imprisons them into oblivion. Multan. Punjab. Pakistan

A ray of light bathes the hand of a Pir in Karachi. According to the local beliefs the mental illness is labeled as being possessed by an evil spirit known as "Jinn". Self-proclaimed exorcists thrive on these beliefs. Sindh. Pakistan

Faijul Hussian, 21 years old at a sufi shrine outskirts Lahore.

A pilgrim posessed by an evil spirit trying to take out the yin in a magical shrine in Sindh. Pakistan

A devote praying religiously at the shrine in Sindh. Devotees consider the shrine a place for the recovery of patients suffering from mental diseases. Sindh. Pakistan

A devotional dance known as "dhamal", being a frenzied and ecstatic swirl of the head and body, is a special ritual that is performed at the rhythmic beat of the dhole (a big barrel-shaped drum), some of them being of giant size and placed in the courtyard of the shrine. Sindh. Pakistan

A mental pacient´s hand looking for the light in Edhi Village. Families normally abandon a relative who has severe mental illness or developmental delay. Sindh. Pakistan