Mental health epidemic

In recent years, mental health has emerged as one of the major health burdens in Kashmir. It is no secret that psychiatrists have become one of the most visited health specialists. This shows both a steep rise in the number of patients, and also, in a sense, a growing awareness  about the affliction and the need to treat it.  The official figures have  painted  a grim picture of the state of mental health in the Valley.

According to a National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report, Jammu and Kashmir accounted for about 30 percent of all suicides in India in 2022. This is a massive number and deserves urgent government and civil society attention. As rising number of suicides and suicide attempts  would tell you, the depression in the Valley is more widespread than was otherwise believed.

The causes behind this are not difficult to identify. Over the past three decades, Kashmir has arguably been one of the saddest places on earth. The unabated violence and the consequent mass suffering have taken a heavy toll.  Some symptoms of this tragedy have manifested in rampant drug use. Last year, the then Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh had said that drug addiction was  a bigger challenge than even militancy.

Kashmir, it is said, is now on the way to becoming the new Punjab. According to data from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, approximately 8 percent of the population, roughly 10 lakh residents, are drug addicts. This is a number that is disproportionately more for a small population like that of ours, a desperate situation that calls for desperate measures.

It is true, mental health has become an endemic global malaise. But unlike diseases like COVID-19 which have visible physical manifestation, mental health is a psychological affliction. It is shrouded in part secrecy and part mystery. The result is that it generally goes unnoticed unless the symptoms acquire extreme manifestation.  Over 150 million Indians require mental health care services, yet only around 30 million seek help.

Ditto in Kashmir, the number of patients seeking psychiatric help is far smaller than those afflicted by the disease. So there's an urgent need for both education and awareness. We need greater investment in mental health services, including training mental health professionals and increasing the number of psychiatric training institutes. This is where the mental health authority will come in handy. It will go a long way to not just institutionalize but also deepen the penetration of the treatment of the mental health patients in the region.