MENTAL HEALTH IN KASHMIR: Caught Between Pills and Silence

A CRITICAL LOOK AT OVERMEDICATION AND THE NEGLECT OF PSYCHOTHERAPY in the VALLEY

- SANNA KHALID

I must have been 11 or 12, when I had my first encounter with an individual they called a psychiatrist. I don't remember a lot, but I do remember being instructed not to disclose my seeing a psychiatrist to anyone. And so, I thought I was committing a sin. A shameful one. It took me some years to realise that not being able to adjust in a new school, just when puberty had hit, was not my fault. And asking for help, was actually not something to be ashamed of. And that medicine did not help much. At least, not me.