This study titled as Socio-economic Factors of Depression among Women in Selected Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, was carried out with Mixed Method Research (MMR) approach under the concurrent triangulation strategy of analysis. For quantitative data, a self-designed structured questionnaire was used to collect data about socio-economic profile of the respondents whereas Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) was applied to diagnose the women with depression. Severity of depression was assessed on the basis of DSM severity scale. Chi square test was applied to find out association between socio-economic variables and depression. Qualitative data was managed manually using interview guide. Both quantitative data and qualitative data were triangulated for comparison to see similarities and dissimilarities therein. The study population included 450 women, out of whom 300 had depression while the rest 150 respondents were non-depression respondents who were interviewed for the sake of comparison. Mean age of the respondents was 35.4 years (SD±11.61). Ninety seven percent had moderate depression. Bivariate analysis showed that depression in sampled women was significantly associated with domestic violence, household debt, polygamy of husbands, emotional abuse, early marriage, non-cordial relationship with in-laws and lack of freedom in the context of spending. The emerging themes of qualitative data during the in-depth interview were almost the same except the hiding of information about their illness from community and other family members. The reason for such act was to avert socially and culturally induced phenomena. The matching qualitative themes included early marriage, domestic abuse, economic difficulties, suicidal behaviour and distortion in social relationships among depressed women. In a nut shell, all the emerging themes were in congruence with the quantitative findings except hiding of depression. The study recommends the inculcation of massive awareness regarding the negative bearings of depression and also generation of socio-economic opportunities for women in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
منشی پریم چند افسوس ہے کہ اس جلسہ میں ہندی اور ہندوستانی کا وہ ادیب موجود نہ تھا، جس کا قلم ان دونوں دریاؤں کا سنگم تھا، یعنی منشی پریم چند، ماسوف علیہ نے اسی مہینہ اپنے دوستوں کو آخری الوداع کہا اور اس دنیا سے رخصت ہوگئے، ان کے قلم نے کم از کم پچیس برس تک اپنے دیہاتی بھائیوں کی کہانی اپنے شہری بھائیوں کو سنائی، وہ زبان کے پرجوش فصیح و بلیغ نہ تھے، ان کی عبارت تکلف و بناوٹ سے پاک اور حددرجہ سادی تھی، ان کی کہانیوں کا اثر ان کی زبان میں نہ تھا، بلکہ ان کے بیان میں تھا، انہوں نے ہمارے دیہاتی تمدن، ہندوستانی وضع و آداب اور ہندی اخلاقی آن بان کی جو تصویر کھینچی ہیں وہ ہمارے ادبی مرقع کی زندہ جاوید یادگاریں ہیں۔ (سید سلیمان ندوی،نومبر ۱۹۳۶ء)
It is with profound pleasure that we write this editorial to welcome you to the new journal, “Pakistan Biomedical Journal” (PBMJ), an interdisciplinary international journal. PBMJ has successfully completed its first volume and now its the second volume. We greatly appreciate the response of scientists who have contributed previously and are still contributing to this new journal. The subject of the journal is interesting and we try to address the health related concerns of public and improve the understandingof scientific phenomenons by researchers. Research discoveries are happening at a fast pace, in all the fields and PBMJ provides an ideal forum for exchange of scientific knowledge in terms of full length papers, surveys, reviews, case studies, letters to editor and systematic analysis. PBMJ is committed to publishing all manuscripts receiving a high recommendation from reviewers. The intention of PBMJ is to create space for generation of new knowledge, debate, collaborations among national and international scientists. Our vision is to promote research that will be helpful for knowledge sharing, new discoveries, development of critical thinking among the upcoming scholars, guidance for policy makers, awareness among the concerned community and ultimately benefitting the general population in improving health and fitness at large. It is a matter of pride for us to haveexcellent editorial board members from renowned institutes. We aim to have the best standards of quality of the published manuscripts. With every issue, we are continuously trying to improve the standards. We look forward for more exciting researches and scientific studies from all over the world. We would like to extend a very warm welcome to the readers of PBMJ and hope you will join us as authors, reviewers and editors in future.
Title: Subscription or Subversion: Gender Representation in Pakistani TV Commercials. The current interdisciplinary research falls into the domains of semiotics, linguistics and cultural studies. Television commercials, having the power to (re)frame the ideology of larger audience through its visual/linguistic content and agency to pave the way to social change have become one of the most viable social institutions of disseminating information to a wider audience. In any of its forms, media construct the image of men and women differently associating with them specific traits regarding their activities, roles and position. The commercials are considered persuasive and efficient modes of representation, having strong impact on the social perception of the viewers. The current study aims to investigate the representation of gender-binary relations in the Pakistani television commercials. The study also imbues the broader socio-cultural factors which help to identify the representational and positional value of men and women. The study analyzes whether gender representation in the Pakistani television commercials subscribes to or subverts the traditional gender narratives. The researcher finds a gap in the area of research, as most of the studies have been produced on gender equality and representation in the Euro-American sphere and a few in Pakistani context, but there is a wide scope of research on gender representation with semiotic perspective. The current study draws its theoretical foundation on the theory of semiotics propounded by Dyer (1982) in her book Advertising as Communication. Semiotics is conceived as an appropriate tool for the critical inquiry of the television commercials because of its widely ranging acceptability and reliability in the meaning making process as suggested by Williamson (1978), Dyer (1982) and Jhally (1990). The data for the current study comprises television commercials broadcast on famous Pakistani television channels. The sampling technique is based on non-probability purposive sampling with the rationale of choosing this technique to include only those commercials which largely reflect gender representation. The study finds that the commercials present layers of meanings via semiotic modes at symbolic level where men and women are displayed in stereotypical manner, subscribing to patriarchal structures. The study recommends the change in the content of the televised material and also highlights the unexplored avenues which can be brought under considerations by the future researchers.