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

[Taraprakash]

"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."
Do we see here a clean chit to all the separatist groups in J&K in this 
regard?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Yogi Sikand" <ysikand at gmail.com>
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 10:21 PM
Subject: [Reader-list] Trauma of Violence: Mounting Psychological 
Illnessesin Kashmir


> 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.
>
> ===================================================
> 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
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