Healing Kashmir’s growth

Over the past six months Healing Kashmir, our integrated mental health project in Kashmir, has grown fast. We are now in our own premises in Srinagar, with a fully functioning mental health centre, and a mental trauma helpline, Kashmir LifeLine and Health Centre. It has been an extraordinary winter, working with and training a group of young Kashmiri men and women in new methods of mental health support. Our helpline has three main principals: we are there to listen and to guide callers towards a fuller understanding of their situation; the calls are free; we have time. The third point is crucial to mental health in Kashmir. In a profoundly damaged society patients get an average of two minutes in front of a doctor or psychiatrist. Medication is prescribed liberally, and in high doses. There is no time for on-going assessment. The fallout of this can be as damaging as many of the initial problems. On top of this there is the weighty social stigma of going to a psychiatric clinic or hospital in a very fearful society. Most people will only go as a last resort, when their situation has become intolerable. This is why we have started the helpline. There will soon be more information in the Aid Projects section of the website, but, until then, I would like to thank all of those working with Kashmir LifeLine and Health Centre for being part of this project.