Tawfeeq Irshad Mir
Let’s assume Kashmir as a living body, it has got many dimensions with respect to quantum of health, it’s very ardent to describe the mental dimension of this part of the world. The mental health of Kashmir means the overall prevalence of psychological, emotional and spiritual health of Kashmir. For Kashmir, emotional health means, that every single person here should outcry one’s emotions, should be able to speak with their hearts out, should be able to ventilate their feelings, should express their concerns freely and more probably in an equitable fashion. When it comes to their psychological health, it should be as free and peaceful as any other dimension of health. Their shouldn’t be any external force limiting the expression of psychological capability of a person. It should be free of stresses and external threats. Moreover the Kashmir should have the ability and right to experience overall spiritual exercises. Right now the figures on mental health in Kashmir are very disturbing, posing serious threat to the existence of Kashmir valley. A recent survey by MSF highlights the effect of stress on residents of Jammu Kashmir and the findings are: (Sample space: 5428 households, 399 villages, 10 districts of the State).
Over 18 lakh people in the state showed some signs of mental distress and depression
More than 04 lakh people surveyed suffer from severe depression
.41 percent of people in the Valley exhibit symptoms of depression
.26percent shows symptoms of anxiety
.19percent shows symptoms of PTSD
The potential causes that are contributing to this distress are many, arranged in a spatial fashion; here I will be discussing few important:
The status of conflict: The rise of armed struggle in 1989 eventually trapped the valley in politics of grief; it altered the psyche of people, carrying emotions of dethroning the mighty armed existence in India. The sudden up rise in search operations and inadvertent cordons impacted the freeness of people, encapsulating their minds in constant fear. The fear of being raped and getting molested. The hecklings irk the consciousness of people and destabilise their minds. The unjustified thrashings turn the normal psychology into complex and the brain starts oscillating in agony. The most important stress factor is checking the identity of people in their own land. The custodial killings have left a deep impact on the mind of people. The enforced disappearances continue to scare people. The rising encounters are deepening the further mental crises. Due to impending conflict, the people are suffering from post traumatic stress disorders with general occurrence of personality disorders, stress and depression.
Joblessness: With the conflict status and the dismantled political and bureaucratic onslaught, the administration has been in deep shambles. The influence of conflict on education sector, the continuous hartals, and the continuous closure of educational institutions further aggravate the cause. There is a general consensus in people of Kashmir that hard work is hardly paid, the materialistic influence is given prime importance. A million youth are jobless, left with nothing to do. The informal sector has mild prevalence in Kashmir. This has lead to the chaos in the minds of youth. This has lead to bipolar psychotic disorders like depression, anxiety, stress and behavioral disorders.
Negative impact of social media: While European world endeavoured to social media to absorb positive side and take the lead in world, the Asian countries sticked to negative side. The people and especially youth of Kashmir are grossly addicted to social media. They are receding away from their social fabric, employing most of their time using social networking sites, this has lead to disorientation and confusion, and both are the precursors to degrading mental health.
Social stigma towards mental health illness: Unawareness is a problem with mental agony in Kashmir. The people aren’t yet convinced about mental health problems. They aren’t accepting it as a mental pathology. People are on a hiding spree, when mental plague hits them. The girls in the marriageable age are caught in this imbroglio, as people think that If such a thing is made public, it will pose restrictions to getting their daughters married. Certain people still carry pseudo prestige, thinking that if such a thing goes public that their kith and kin are having mental distress, will earn bad fame for them. So at first instance, they opt for spiritual healers, this is the most bizarre part; these spiritual healers drain their wealth and use some obnoxious tricks to strike their needs, even some resort to molestation. There are numerous incidents where so called spiritual healers were caught molesting and sexually abusing adolescent girls.
Shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists: This shortage of professionals further deepens the roots of problem already havocking the state with its debilitating onset. With only few professionals, it is imperatively impossible to challenge such a grave problem.
The causes and risk factors are many, but what are the available options to halt this impending disaster? I sensibly believe that conflict has to be resolved to eventually free the state of mental agony, rest of the things will follow the same pursuit like education, jobs. Without resolving the conflict, it seems practically impossible to deliver a strong punch to this long standing horror. We are only left with treating the signs and symptoms, rather than eradicating the actual causes. We can do so by encouraging healthy practices and ensuring safe environment.
(The author is pursuing B.Sc Hons at Government Medical College Srinagar. Views of the author are his own [email protected].)
