[Reader-list] Trauma of Violence: Mounting Psychological Illnesses in Kashmir

[Yogi Sikand]

Trauma Of Daily Violence
In Jammu And Kashmir
Telling Upon Mental Health

By Syed Junaid Hashmi

20 June, 2007
Countercurrents.org

Ravaged by conflict, traumatized by lack of accountability and
strangled by social taboos, people in Jammu and Kashmiri have been
both witness to and victims of violence which has had a significant
effect on their mental health. While a sustainable political solution
to "K" problem seems far away, psychological wounds inflicted by
violence and impunity on the Kashmiri society continue to increase and
go well beyond socio-economic problems.

Studies and survey's conducted by various reputed organizations and
institutes have confirmed that Psychological problems have been
increasing in Jammu and Kashmir. According to one survey conducted by
state mental health society (SMHS), around 80,000 people from Kashmir
valley visited various mental health professionals during the year
2005-2006 and nearly three-fourths were diagnosed with serious
psychological disorders. This represents an over twenty percent
increase from 2005 and reveals that the emotional and mental damage
caused by the conflict continues to surge.

A survey report on Jammu and Kashmir by a Holland-based humanitarian
group M‚decins Sans FrontiŠres (MSF) maintains that a third of its
respondents suffered from psychological distress. Nearly one in 10
people reported having lost one or more members of their immediate
family due to violence in the period from 1989-2005. The survey
reported that almost half ( 48.1%) of the respondents said they felt
only occasionally or never safe.

It also indicated that violence or the threat of physical violence
seems to have had a significant effect on the mental health of people.
It revealed that respondents suffered from high levels of anxiety such
as nervousness, tension and extensive worrying.

The survey stated that a substantial number of people interviewed by
them admitted to having thoughts about ending their life (33.9%).
"Such a high percentage of suicidal tendencies within a population
holding strong religious beliefs that condemn the act of suicide, is a
worrying indicator of the level of despair and hopelessness in which
people in Jammu and Kashmir are living," stressed a neurologist.

The survey also indicated high rates of physical complaints including
headaches (23.5%), body pains such as joint and back complaints
(20.5%), and abdominal complaints (16.9%). It reported that poor
health placed a substantial burden on the area's health facilities,
with most people saying they visit health clinics frequently ( 63.9%);
some even four times or more. Medicine consumption was also high, with
over one-third taking six or more medicines in the previous 30 days
(37.9%).

According to MSF, Interviewees reported witnessing (73.3%) and
directly experiencing themselves ( 44.1%), physical and psychological
mistreatment, such as humiliation and threats thus causing extensive
damage to their psychological health. A shocking finding of the survey
was that torture appeared to be widespread suggesting that a strategy
of intimidation and fear has been employed by army and paramilitary
forces.

Maintaining that sexual violence has impinged upon the mental health
of people in Jammu and Kashmir more than physical violence, the survey
reported that sexual violence has been used as a common strategy to
intimidate people in conflict. 11.6% of interviewees said they had
been victims of sexual violence since 1989. Almost two-thirds of the
people interviewed (63.9%) by MSF had heard over a similar period
about cases of rape, while one in seven had witnessed rape.


The worst hit have been the children among whom the major effect of
the violence reported in this survey has been fear (24.6%).
School-related problems also scored highly, such as being unable to
attend school (15.5%) and having problems studying ( 16.3%) due to the
lack of professional teachers and study material.

Respondents told the surveyors that people deal with stress by
isolating themselves (22.3%) or becoming aggressive (16%). They
further informed them that talking confidentially to someone they
trust is helpful when confronted with tension ( 89.4%). It is
essentially this survey which brought out the real picture of the
mental health of people in Jammu and Kashmir. The findings of the
survey revealed a bleak picture of the mental health of people in the
conflict-afflicted region and raised important questions about the
government's failure to adequately provide mental health services to
the population.

Overburdened, understaffed, and in-demand, this is the state of mental
health care in Kashmir. The Psychiatric Diseases Hospital at Kaathi
Darwaza is the only refuge for mental patients in Kashmir, and its
doctors, facilities, and supplies have long been grossly inadequate.
According to one report, records from the out-patient department (OPD)
of Srinagar's Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases show that more than
300 people arrive every day.

It stated that most self-admitting patients are women aged between 16
to 25. Because of the social stigma associated with psychological
disorders, doctors believe that no more than 10 percent of those in
need of psychiatric care are actually approaching the hospital. One
outcome of this under-treated trauma is an increase in teenage girl
suicides.

According to another report published in a local daily, 19-year-old
Jameela witnessed her aunt being killed while working in the kitchen
and later also witnessed a shootout in her locality. With no history
of psychiatric problems, she began suffering from post-traumatic
stress disorders: recurrent, intrusive and distressing recollection of
the events, marked irritability, outbursts of anger, difficulty in
concentrating, sleeplessness, sadness, and disinterest in all social,
domestic and college activities. Following a minor altercation with
her sister, she consumed pesticide and ended her life.

A statistical report of the state health and medical education
department revealed that on an average, two to three cases of
attempted suicide are admitted into Srinagar's two main hospitals on
regular basis. A large number of people from the villages die on the
way or in local health centers.

Psychologists maintain that people living at a place ravaged by
conflict are often faced with a number of Psychological problems. They
say that the physical environment in which people live and survive has
a direct bearing on their mental health. "Stress caused by feelings of
insecurity and dependency can deplete physical and psychological
buoyancy leading to varied mental problems, this has happened in most
of the cases in Jammu and Kashmir," said Dr.Adarsh Bhargav He
maintained that crackdowns, frisking by security forces and round-up
raids in villages have a deep impact on the mental health of the
people. "When you find yourself in the middle of a situation where
your movement gets restricted, where you have to follow orders, where
you are abused and humiliated, where your imaginations fail to take a
flight and where your identity always remains a suspect, you are bound
to suffer from Psychological disorders," added the young practicing
Psychologist.

A young neurologist Dr.Nida who is presently doing her masters from a
reputed institute in Delhi maintained that since 1990, the number of
mental patients in Kashmir Valley have increased from 1500 to nearly 1
Lakh in 2006.

"Around 60 to 70 percent of these patients are suffering from
depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia; all of these disorders
are of serious nature, apart from these problems, there are many other
psychological complications associated with violence which can be
easily noticed among the people in Kashmir valley," added Dr.Nida.

She maintained that situation has come to a stage where people feel so
unsafe that they prefer staying in hospital than going home.
Increasing psychological and neurological problems among the people in
Jammu and Kashmir begs further discussion of the continuing situation
of impunity in Kashmir for those who perpetrate acts of terror and
violence without any fear of being caught and held accountable. Until
this atmosphere of impunity is not addressed, psychological problems
are bound to increase.

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The writer is a journalist, presently working with Jammu and Kashmir's
largest circulated daily "The Kashmir Times". He can be contacted on
syedjunaidhashmi at gmail.com

-- 
Sukhia Sab Sansar Khaye Aur Soye
Dukhia Das Kabir Jagey Aur Roye

The world is 'happy', eating and sleeping
The forlorn Kabir Das is awake and weeping