Curing the cause

Murad Moosa Khan Published August 21, 2026 Updated August 21, 2026 08: 34am. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Key points

• In 1989, he along with five fellow Jesuit priests were assassinated by the Salvadoran military since of their advocacy for social justice.
• Liberation psychology is relevant for Pakistan, where millions live under economic insecurity, climate disasters and violence.
• Similarly, suicide prevention in Pakistan cannot rely solely on crisis interventions or psychiatric services.
• In Pakistan, discussions around mental health are mostly focused on 'raising awareness, reducing stigma, closing the treatment gap by training more psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors'.
• These examples demonstrate that mental health interventions are most effective when they engage with the social realities.

"Psychological knowledge should put itself at the service of society. Where the wellness of the few does not depend on the suffering of the rest. Where the achievements of some do not require the neglect of others" – Ignacio Martin-Baro.

MENTAL health is often presented as an individual difficulty. We tend to think of depression, anxiety or trauma as conditions within a person's mind, to be treated through medications or therapy (or both). While these interventions are significant, they are only part of the story. In countries grappling with poverty, inequality, violence and political instability, psychological distress is not only an individual matter but a social and political one as well.

In Pakistan, discussions around mental health are mostly focused on 'raising awareness, reducing stigma, closing the treatment gap by training more psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors'. While essential they do not fully answer a fundamental question: what happens when the social conditions themselves generate psychological suffering?

'Liberation psychology' offers a compelling perspective. Developed by the Jesuit priest and social psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró in El Salvador during the civil war of the 1970s and 1980s, liberation psychology was framed on a radical premise that psychology cannot be separated from the realities of oppression, injustice and inequality. By contrast, conventional psychology focused on the individual, helping him/ her to adapt to unjust social conditions instead of questioning or transforming them. Liberation psychology does not reject therapy or clinical care. Rather, it asks us to widen our lens. If communities experience chronic poverty, displacement, discrimination, conflict or violence, then improving mental health additionally requires addressing these structural realities.

Liberation psychology encourages us not simply to ask 'what is wrong with this individual?', but rather 'what has happened to this person and what conditions continue to produce this suffering?' A number of Latin American countries have demonstrated how this broader perspective can shape mental health responses. In Colombia, decades of armed conflict left millions displaced and traumatised. Community-based psychosocial programmes were developed that combined mental health backing with truth-telling, collective memory and rebuilding social trust. Mental health was connected with reconciliation and community healing rather than simply treating individual symptoms. After the Pinochet dictatorship, psychologists worked with human rights organisations for survivors of torture and political violence, recognising that trauma was inseparable from justice, acknowledgement and accountability, in Chile. Recovery involved not only counselling but additionally restoring dignity and recognising historical harms. In the 1980s, Brazil's psychiatric reform movement challenged institutional models of men­­tal healthcare, shifting away from isolated psychiatric hospitals towards community mental health centres. It recognised that social inclusion, employment, family backing and community participation are integral to psychological well-being.

These examples demonstrate that mental health interventions are most effective when they engage with the social realities. Mental health should not remain confined to hospitals and clinics in major cities; it should become part of schools, primary healthcare, disaster preparedness, workplaces and local governance. This perspective is particularly relevant for children and young individuals. Research consistently demonstrates that adverse childhood experiences – including violence, neglect, poverty and displacement – have lifelong consequences for mental and physical health. Preventing childhood trauma therefore requires more than expanding counselling services. It requires safer schools, stronger child protection systems, social protection and policies that reduce violence in homes and communities.

Similarly, suicide prevention in Pakistan cannot rely solely on crisis interventions or psychiatric services. Social exclusion, poverty, unemployment and barriers to accessing backing all contribute to suicide risk. Addressing these underlying determinants is as significant as improving clinical care.

Liberation psychology additionally reminds professionals to reflect on whose voices mental health policy is shaped. Too often, interventions are designed by experts in urban centres with limited engagement from the communities they seek to serve. Participatory approaches that involve individuals with lived experience, community leaders and marginalised populations produce solutions that are more culturally grounded and sustainable.

None of this diminishes the importance of psychiatrists, psychologists or evidence-based treatments. Pakistan urgently needs more mental health professionals and better access to quality care. But if we focus exclusively on expanding clinical services while ignoring the conditions that produce widespread distress, we risk treating symptoms while leaving the causes untouched.

Perhaps the greatest lesson liberation psychology offers is that psychological well-being is inseparable from human dignity. Individuals flourish not simply as they receive therapy, but since they feel safe, valued, connected and hopeful concerning their future. Healing is not only regarding changing individuals; it is additionally regarding changing the conditions in which they live.

Martin-Baro's work ultimately cost him his life. In 1989, he along with five fellow Jesuit priests were assassinated by the Salvadoran military since of their advocacy for social justice. Yet his ideas continue to influence mental health professionals and community practitioners throughout Latin America and worldwide. The writer is professor emeritus, psychiatry, Aga Khan University.

Taken together, the developments around curing the cause point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.