According to The Nation, Mohsin Nawaz sports psychologist has urged Pakistan to adopt a dedicated Sports Mental Health Policy. He wants policymakers and national sports federations to build psychological preparation into athlete development. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Pakistan Global Mental Health Summit 2026, recently held at a local hotel in Lahore. He welcomed the National Mental Health Policy launched by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, and said the policy will serve wellbeing and a more resilient society only if it is actually applied across sectors, including sport.
A summit about young people
The summit theme was "Building Climate-Resilient and Future-Ready Mental Health Systems for Children, Young People and Communities." The gathering was a chance to highlight mental health among young people and competitive athletes. The theme named children, young people and communities, while the discussion also took in competitive athletes. Nawaz used it to argue that sport belongs in that work, and that the national policy still has to be carried into the sector.
Talent is not enough on its own
Mohsin Nawaz sports psychologist said physical ability alone will not produce steady results at the highest level. Athletes, he said, also need concentration, control over their emotions, confidence, and a way to handle pressure at major competitions. He cited Pakistan's international sporting challenges as a reason to keep psychological support in place beside technical and physical training.
"Pakistan possesses immense athletic talent and raw potential," he said. He argued that regular podium finishes will hold only when systematic mental preparation, pressure management and emotional regulation sit alongside physical training.
What elite athletes carry
He said elite athletes regularly face intense expectations, uncertainty over selection, performance anxiety and the psychological strain of injuries. Without the right support, those pressures can disturb decision-making and coordination, complicate recovery, and reduce the chance that an athlete keeps competing over the long term.
He raised a separate concern: Pakistan's sports system lacks dedicated mental health professionals. Teams commonly depend on physical trainers and physiotherapists, he said. He wants qualified sports psychologists and structured mental conditioning programmes to receive the same attention. For him, that is the practical meaning of mental health in sports organization.
What happens next
The Nation report stops at the appeal. It gives no draft text, no budget, no lead federation and no decision date. Nawaz's request is that the national policy be implemented in sport and that a dedicated Sports Mental Health Policy make psychological preparation part of how athletes are developed. The staffing he described is qualified sports psychologists and planned mental conditioning, treated as seriously as the physical trainers and physiotherapists already with teams.
