From Awareness to Action: Addressing Mental Health Challenges in Kashmir
Over the past decade, experts across the world have increasingly recognised that mental health among children and adolescents is no longer a peripheral issue but a core public health concern. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), roughly one in every seven young people aged 10 to 19 lives with a mental disorder, with anxiety, depression, and behavioural challenges among the leading causes of illness and disability in this age group. These global trends reflect growing psychological strain among young people, driven by rapid social change, academic pressures, evolving family structures, lack of meaningful social connections, and the inherent challenges of adolescence.
Kashmir has experienced similar shifts, with its own distinct challenges. Local observations indicate persistently high levels of anxiety, low mood, and behavioural difficulties among students. Teachers, caregivers, and clinicians frequently describe young people struggling with persistent worry, emotional overwhelm, and challenges with concentration and daily routines. Substance use, internet use, and gaming addiction have emerged as additional concerns for families. The region has also witnessed distressing instances of school-going children losing their lives to suicide or substance overdose. These developments do not define our young people, but they remind us that structured support, early identification, and accessible community-based resources remain urgently needed.
Years of silent service
Recognizing the profound psychosocial toll of catastrophe conflict and trauma, Professor Mushtaq Ahmad Margoob, one of Kashmir’s most respected psychiatrists and a pioneer in advancing mental health care in the region launched SAWAB (Supporting Always Wholeheartedly All Broken-Hearted) as a community mental health initiative in 1990. What began as a one-man mobile mental health clinic grew into a revolutionary model of community psychiatry. SAWAB reached into remote villages and urban neighbourhoods, offering counselling and support, and effectively destigmatizing mental illness by bringing care directly to people’s doorsteps creating pathways for clinical care, rehabilitation, and community support at a time when such services were scarce. SAWAB’s journey has been one of addressing the unmet needs of the neglected, needy, and suffering — not just by offering care, but by pioneering cost-effective, scalable, and replicable mental health strategies. These have proven especially valuable in low-resource and conflict-impacted settings. Yet, perhaps more significantly, SAWAB’s work has enriched global trauma treatment protocols and influenced community service delivery models — many of which have been adapted in some of the most developed regions of the world. Today, SAWAB is a movement of restoration and resilience. It functions as a school, a sanctuary, and a symbol—educating, healing, and empowering communities through robust partnerships. Kashmir Care Foundation has emerged as one of the salient and significant collaborating partners who have been doing an extraordinary job on empowering students and young professionals with knowledge, tools, and technologies to stay ahead in education and the workforce.
Kashmir Care Foundation (KCF)
Dr. Altaf Lal the Founder and President of Kashmir Care Foundation, is positioned as a scientist-leader with long experience in health sciences and pharmaceuticals, operating on a global platform, now channelling his expertise to uplifting young professionals and students via KCF.The Kashmir Care Foundation is a non-partisan civil society organisation dedicated to empowering the youth of Kashmir through mentorship, skill development, and global collaboration initiatives. KCF’s leadership and advisory structure includes a distinguished Advisory Council made up of experts from medicine, academia, humanitarian work, and public service, which helps guide its programmes and outreach. KCF promotes education, research, and innovation, equipping young Kashmiris with the tools and opportunities to realise their potential while addressing local socio-economic challenges.
Why this partnership became necessary
SAWAB and KCF had long been engaging in child and adolescent mental health from complementary perspectives. Yet the realisation remained the same. There was a need for practical guidance, actionable tools, and culturally relevant material tailored to our unique context. The gaps were consistent, regardless of the perspective.
This partnership emerged from a shared understanding that the challenges before us are immense, and that the existing gaps in this area are too significant to ignore. Our joint initiative represents an important first step. It is a sincere attempt to contribute meaningfully and set in motion efforts that can eventually help address this substantial unmet need and bridge the longstanding void in child and adolescent mental health support.
Bridging the gap
Given the rising need for awareness of mental health concerns across Kashmir, as reflected in news reports, research, and community observations, the need for practical and culturally relevant guidance has never been greater. Adolescents face unique emotional and behavioural challenges, and early signs of distress are often overlooked or misunderstood. In this context, mental health awareness and accessible resources have become critical priorities. More so as today, young people live in a world where information is constant, abundant, and often overwhelming. In this infodemic, credible facts sit alongside misinformation and disinformation, often indistinguishable at first glance. Within this digital noise, young people are routinely exposed to contradictory advice, casual interpretations of mental health by unverified sources, and viral wellness trends that oversimplify or distort recognised clinical conditions. Instead of clarity, many are left with heightened anxiety, confusion, or a false sense of understanding.
Increasingly, adolescents are turning to artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT and other online mental health resources for guidance. While technology can support learning, it cannot replace trained professionals who understand the nuances of individual histories, recognise risk factors, or intervene during crises.
Online self-help resources can be helpful when they are accessed from credible, verified, and contextually appropriate sources. However, most materials are developed for international audiences and do not reflect Kashmiri language, lived experience, or everyday realities. This reduces their relevance and makes it difficult for families and teachers to recognise and respond to the ways distress manifests in young people. For mental health support to be effective, it must be relatable, culturally grounded, and aligned with how emotions, stress, and behavioural difficulties are expressed and understood in Kashmir.
To address this gap, SAWAB and KCF are developing a series of culturally tailored self-help manuals, including Adolescent Anxiety, Adolescent Depression, and Teacher Well-Being. These manuals have been designed using local language, familiar examples, and realistic scenarios, ensuring that the content resonates with Kashmiri experiences. By grounding strategies in daily life and cultural realities, the manuals help adolescents, teachers, and families recognise signs of distress, understand mental health challenges, and apply practical coping strategies.
Expert-led development
The manuals were developed by SAWAB team comprising mainly Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Syed Bushra Imtiyaz and Clinical Psychologist Ms. Aeiman Rafiq, with artistic contributions by Ms. Juvaria Syed, a PhD researcher at IIT Delhi. Teachers, parents, and community members were consulted throughout the development process to ensure that the modules reflect both clinical evidence and lived experience.
The Modules
Adolescent Anxiety Module
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges among children and adolescents, yet its diverse signs and symptoms often go unrecognised. This module explains anxiety in simple, relatable terms, clarifies the difference between everyday stress and clinically significant anxiety, and explores how anxiety manifests in the body, thoughts, and emotions. Evidence-informed coping strategies are provided, along with guidance on when to seek professional support and information on pathways to care within Kashmir. Case examples and worksheets illustrate common scenarios and practical application.
Adolescent Depression Module
This module helps adolescents understand and manage their mood. It explains the difference between normal sadness and clinical depression and highlights how depression can affect thoughts, emotions, behaviour, and physical health. Practical strategies enable young people to monitor their feelings, regulate emotions, and respond effectively to distress. Colloquial Kashmiri terms are used to make symptoms easier to recognise and discuss in everyday life. Case examples offer guidance on seeking help and identifying supportive resources when needed.
Teacher Well-Being Module
Teachers play a central role in adolescent development. This module addresses their well-being, explaining stress and burnout while offering self-assessment tools, preventive strategies, therapy-informed techniques, and guidance on when to seek professional support. Verbatim reflections from teachers provide insight into lived experience and practical approaches for managing daily demands.
Promoting Self-Care and Emotional Literacy
In earlier times, human survival depended largely on physical strength, endurance, and the ability to defend oneself. Today, success and well-being rely more on emotional awareness, resilience, and interpersonal skills. In this context, self-care and emotional literacy are essential life skills for young people.
Self-care is often misunderstood as indulgence, but it simply involves attending to basic physical and emotional needs, including rest, nutrition, stress management, and emotional well-being. Emotional literacy equips young people to identify and understand their feelings, communicate them effectively, and respond thoughtfully to the emotions of others. Together, these skills promote resilience, better decision-making, healthy relationships, and overall well-being. Teaching children and adolescents these abilities is not optional; it is a fundamental responsibility that prepares them to navigate life with confidence, balance, and compassion.
A stitch in time
The mental health of Kashmiri children and adolescents requires urgent attention. Awareness alone is not enough; early intervention guided by culturally sensitive, evidence-based, and practical resources is crucial to support young people and empower the adults who guide them.
The self-help manuals developed by SAWAB and KCF offer practical tools to recognise early signs of distress, manage emotions, and seek timely help. Written in culturally familiar language and grounded in real-life experiences, these manuals equip teachers, families, and adolescents with strategies that can be applied in everyday life. Schools, community centres, hospitals, NGOs, and government programmes are encouraged to explore and adopt these resources.
By fostering open conversations about mental health in homes, classrooms, and public spaces, these manuals can reduce stigma, protect emotional well-being, and help build a resilient, supportive community. Simple, timely, and informed approaches like these can save lives, strengthen coping skills, and safeguard the emotional health of Kashmiri children and adolescents.
Dr. Syed Bushra Imtiyaz, SAWAB Consultant Psychiatrist.
Aeiman Rafiq, Clinical Psychologist.
