Eliciting explanatory models of common mental disorders using the short explanatory model interview [SEMI] urdu adaptation - a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the presenting symptoms and its explanation from the patients' perspective of GHQ [General Health Questionnaire] from SEMI [Short Explanatory Model Interview]. Though there was no consistency in the presenting symptoms of GHQ positive cases on presentation to a general practitioner, all described their problems as intense, less than 2 years on onset and on reflection located its origins in their social worlds. These findings have implications in terms of providing preliminary data for a larger study, perhaps looking at development of psychosocial interventions for treatment of mental distress in our local context as it seems to have its origins in their social worlds