One of the most serious health related issues confronting the people of Jammu and Kashmir is that of mental health. Not that it is too wide-spread or it is not treatable but for the very fact that it is hardly recognised, admitted and then addressed. Given the turbulent more than three decades here, this has emerged as a very serious issue and needs to be taken head-on. However, given lack of awareness among the masses and unfounded taboos surrounding psychiatric and mental issues, in most of the cases these issues remain unaddressed thus taking toll on the lives of the people. The society has to understand and appreciate that mental health issues are like other health issues and there should be no taboos attached to the same. Stigmatization of people having such issues is inhuman and tells about the abyss of ignorance that the society has fallen into. It is responsibility of civil society, influential citizens, teachers, scholars and religious leaders to make people aware about such issues and encourage them to take these issues head-on instead of ignoring them and making their own people suffer. The administration too needs to play its role. Special mental health camps should be organised in length and breadth of the Union Territory where experts should be available to make people aware about the dangers of ignoring mental health. Mental health is paramount to a healthy society and thus should be dealt with utmost priority.
Of late, the concerned authorities have woken up to the challenge and devised some innovative methods to encourage such patients to consult the experts. The call centre under the central government’s Tele MANAS initiative has been established at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Rainawari. This centre has helped the people a lot because now they can consult the experts without exposing themselves and thus having no issues of social stigmatisation. The digital facility has made it easy for women to talk about their issues from home without being stigmatised. However, need is to have such centres in all district headquarters of the UT so that the people in need can avail this life saving facility. Besides, it still is the responsibility of the civil society, religious leaders and NGOs to ensure that a discourse about mental health is started on societal level wherein people freely speak about the issue. The entire society, on all fronts, should join hands and heads to destigmatize the mental health issues so that people don’t suffer further.
