“I am irritated with one question that keeps on repeating – How is your family?” asks an agitated Athar, a Kashmiri multimedia journalist working in Delhi. “Why the hell do you even ask me this question, you know the situation there. I am so worried about this and everyone keeps repeating this.”
There has been a simmering, seething mental health crisis silently brewing in the Valley. Anxiety, anger, helplessness and pent-up frustrations are boiling during almost 65 days of the lockdown post the abrogation of article 370.
But the crisis, like the rest of the Valley, has been forced to exist in silence - trapped voices of hopelessness with no outlet and no help.
Kashmir and her people have become sites of trauma and mental distress - and in the last 65 days that trauma is left unheard.
“I can’t even feel anger because feeling anger comes with hope that something might change. There is nothing normal about the situation.”School teacher in Kashmir, Anonymous
It’s World Mental Health Day and what are people in Kashmir thinking right now? How are they feeling?
From worrying about board exam dates to ‘midnight-knock syndrome’ and fears of being taken in the middle of the night - listen to the students, school teachers and residents of Kashmir tell you about their anxieties.
ANIMATION/ILLUSTRATION, VISUALISATION: Erum Gour
CREATIVE PRODUCER: Puneet Bhatia
PRODUCER, VISUALISATION: Devina Buckshee
VOICEOVER: Danish Qazi, Bazilah Ayoob, Nikhil Prashar
(If you are suicidal or know anyone in distress, reach out to the numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs here.
Alternatively, mental health NGOs in Kashmir currently are
Kashmir Lifeline: 1800 180 7020
Paigaam paigaampeace@gmail.com)
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