SAWAB hosts CME on Youth Mental Health in Srinagar

Srinagar, Aug 27: SAWAB (Supporting Always Wholeheartedly All Brokenhearted), in collaboration with Voluntary Medicare Society (VMS), Department of Psychiatry SKIMS Medical College, and IMHANS-K Child Guidance and Wellbeing Centre, organised a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme on “Handling Emerging Mental Health Challenges Among Adolescents and Youth Mental Health Crisis in the Community.”

The CME, part of SAWAB’s annual professional education series, brought together leading experts, clinicians, and community stakeholders to deliberate on the growing concerns of substance use, suicide, and emotional health challenges among Kashmiri youth.

Renowned suicide prevention expert Prof. (Dr) Lakshmi Vijaykumar, founder of SNEHA, presented evidence-based strategies for suicide prevention and advocacy. Prof. Zaid Ahmad Wani, HOD IMHANS-K, discussed adolescent mental health challenges, while Dr. Wasim Ahmad, Consultant Cardiologist, highlighted cardiac complications associated with substance abuse.

The programme concluded with a keynote address by Prof. Mushtaq Ahmad Margoob, founder of SAWAB and Kashmir’s leading psychiatrist, who stressed that OPD treatment alone is inadequate to tackle youth mental health issues. He called for community-based, trauma-sensitive interventions and presented impactful video case studies illustrating the cultural dimensions of trauma, which deeply resonated with participants.