By: Raashid Altaf
Sopore: A free mental health camp was organised by GM Medicate chemist shop in collaboration with Dr. Aijaz M. Bhat, a neuropsychiatrist at Naseem Bagh Sopore to provide consultations for anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders.
Dr. Aijaz emphasised the need for such initiatives in North Kashmir, highlighting the surge of mental health disorders in the region. “This is a joint effort to intervene and provide help to the local population,” he said, “depression affects individuals across all age groups, with socio-economic factors and family relations playing significant roles.”
Addressing the link between mental health and drug abuse, as in recent statistics of January 2025, Baramulla and Sopore police arrested 25 drug-peddlers. “Drug abuse is a mental disorder, just like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, and dementia,” Aijaz said. “It follows a treatment protocol, and my request to youth involved in substance abuse is to seek help from psychiatrists and get examined.”
A drug activist and author Mehvish Rafiqa Firdous also underlined the relation, “First of all, whoever takes drugs isn’t mentally stable,” she said. “Drug addiction is a coping mechanism, and we never discuss the triggering reasons behind it.”
Referring to the solution, Dr. Aijaz said, “Mental health disorders should be seen just like other common diseases, which can be treated without stigma. I urge people to seek help for quality life and overall betterment of society.”
However, activist Mehvish criticised the administration’s inaction on establishing a drug rehabilitation center in Sopore. “I discussed the need for a rehab center with the administration and realised that nobody is willing to take any action—neither the government nor community leaders. Unfortunately, everyone just talks about it.”
