Civilians are often trapped in the crossfire in Kashmir
|
Fifteen years of militancy and violence in Indian-administered Kashmir have claimed thousands of lives.
And they have taken a toll in other ways.
Mental health experts in the state's summer capital, Srinagar, say there has been a staggering increase in the number of stress and trauma related cases in the Kashmir Valley.
Abdul Ahad is a resident of Ganderbal town, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Srinagar.
He has been attending the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir Valley's only mental health institution, for five months now.
He complains of a burning sensation in his palms and says that it is affecting his heart.
Dr Arshad Hussain, who is counselling Ahad, says he is suffering from depression.
Waiting for psychiatric help in Srinagar
|
Ahad is a classic example of increasing number of people coming to the hospital to seek help.
The hospital saw 1,700 cases in 1989 - but by last year that figure had rocketed to close to 50,000 patients last year.
By mid-morning a large crowd of patients and relatives congregates outside the hospital's out-patient department.
Mental health experts say that an ever increasing number of patients come to them with complaints of anxiety, depression, hysteria, post traumatic stress disorder and even schizophrenia.
Dr Hussain attributes these cases to the violence and mayhem that takes place in the valley every day.
He says most patients come to him with complaints of headaches, stomach aches and palpitations, and the underlying cause is emotional trauma.
Cross-fire
Dr Sadaqat Rahman is a clinical psychologist at the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital.
She says the stresses and traumas are afflicting a lot of young children in the valley.
Fayaz is 12 years old.
Six months ago, Fayaz's father was caught in cross-fire and killed in front of his young son.
The child was deeply traumatised - he refused to go to school and was scared he would be killed too.
He shadowed his mother everywhere and refused to talk to the rest of the family.
Dr Arshad Hussain counselling Abdul Ahad
|
Dr Rahman has been counselling Fayaz for a month now, and she says this is a classic case of post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Such patients live with the event, they keep replaying it in their minds all the time. They can't go beyond the event. They live it, they dream about it."
Dr Hussain says some community surveys reveal that 25% of the people in Kashmir Valley suffer from lifetime depressive disorders.
They are often sad, don't sleep well and do not enjoy life.
But, as Dr Hussain says, he's not surprised by these figures - after all Kashmiris are a people living on the edge.
One-Minute World News
News services
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
People are over-stressed... they see crises every day
