How women in Indian Kashmir confront mental health crisis and stigma
- Irfan Amin Malik
- May 2
- 6 min read
Editor's note: This piece was written before the recent terrorist attack on tourists in the Kashmir region. Of course, our hearts go out to the people affected by this tragedy and to their families. We felt that these recent events should not prevent us from publishing this piece, which focuses exclusively on mental health.
In the face of stigma and isolation, Tele-MANAS provides women in Kashmir with mental health support and hope
In the snow-covered villages of Indian-controlled Kashmir, women have silently shouldered the burden of mental illness for years, their pain hidden beneath the rigid customs and traditions that have shaped their lives.
Mental illness in Kashmir has often been misdiagnosed, with symptoms frequently attributed to other health issues, mainly gastrointestinal or cardiovascular problems.
Many people in the Himalayan valley, “known as paradise on earth,” also believe that anxiety and depression are caused by people through talismans and witchcraft.
I have come across countless women, mostly from financially poor backgrounds, seeking solace in faith healers, who spoke of ancient remedies and unseen spirits
I am Irfan Amin Malik, an independent journalist from Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. With over nine years of experience covering the Himalayan region, I have witnessed firsthand how women in this region grapple with mental health crisis and the stigma surrounding it. As a journalist and part of Kashmir society, I have closely seen the stigma and neglect surrounding mental health, which inspired me to write this story.
Women’s experience with mental health in Kashmir
It costs almost nothing to visit faith healers in Kashmir, where they are readily available everywhere. In villages, women seek therapy from religious healers for insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, and anxiety.
“My heart is at unrest and my mind is disturbed. I am unable to concentrate on my studies,” a young girl confides in a faith healer, with her mother by her side, supporting her and describing her struggles.
In response, the faith healer in Tral, Kashmir’s one of hilly towns hands her a small piece of paper, instructing her to place it in water and drink from it daily for a week.
In the dimly lit, overcrowded rooms where mostly women gather from dawn to dusk, their personal struggles are exposed for all to hear, revealing a broader cultural indifference to the privacy and dignity of women who require care.
After failing her Senior School class 12 examinations in 2005, Kaiser Bashir (name changed), a 40-year-old housewife from the outskirts of Srinagar, developed OCD.
Her mental health was severely damaged by her parents’ taunting, a trauma that persisted for years until she finally sought treatment from a psychiatrist. “Failing the exams and the insults that followed left a deep mark on my mental health, leading to disturbing, repetitive thoughts,” she said.
Her parents took her to a faith healer for more than ten years, where the healer would blow on her or use water to try to call forth heavenly healing.
Sometimes, under the guise of offering treatment, some fraudulent faith healers physically harass women, exacerbating their mental health.
Women have suffered most in the war-torn region of Kashmir, where armed conflict have continued for more than three decades. They have suffered severe stress, from being sexually harassed, to experiencing violence, gunfights, curfews, and lockdowns. For example, the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) most recent report, released in December 2023, revealed that Jammu & Kashmir had the highest number of attempted suicides in 2022, accounting for 497 of the 1,769 cases reported across India.
The 2015 Doctors Without Borders Kashmir Mental Health Survey found that 50% of women (compared to 37% of men) had probable depression, 36% of women (compared to 21% of men) had probable anxiety disorder, and 22% of women (compared to 18%) had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Another reason women in Kashmir (bordered by India, China and Pakistan) turn to faith healers is the dearth of psychiatrists, with many traveling long distances to cities only to face judgment and whispers from those who believe their pain should remain hidden.
Dr. Abrar Guroo, senior consultant at Tele-MANAS, Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) in Srinagar says that cultural reasons and a lack of specialised psychiatrists in rural hospitals are the main causes of the stigma surrounding mental health in Kashmir. “The stigma associated with mental health is cultural, and those who experience stress or anxiety are unwilling to talk about it for fear of being stigmatised. Because there are not many psychiatrists in rural hospitals, women are reluctant to seek therapy in the city for fear that it will hurt their prospects of finding a spouse, since society may interpret their visit to a city psychiatrist as a sign of a serious illness.”
According to the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) (which sets the essential benchmarks for delivering minimum healthcare services in India), government hospitals in rural areas are not required to have psychiatrists, with only one psychiatrist mandated for district hospitals serving an average population of 1.86 million.
According to the 2011 census, Kashmir has only 45 specialised psychiatrists for a population of 12.5 million, which goes against the World Health Organisation's recommendation of at least three practicing psychiatrists per 0.1 million people. This underscores the government's insufficient provision of mental health care for the people.
Women in Kashmir have been most affected by the mental health issue, according to Guroo, since they are still confined to their houses and forced to cook and clean, which prevents them from interacting with others and developing personally.
But times are changing. Today, these women are no longer trapped in a cycle of silent suffering. With the rise of telepsychiatry, they are now seeking help from the comfort of their homes, breaking free from the isolation.
Tele-MANAS: A novel therapeutic approach:
Since its inception in 2022, Tele-MANAS, a 24×7 mental health helpline in Kashmir, has brought much-needed relief to thousands of women suffering from mental health issues.
The Indian government launched Tele-MANAS to help close the gap in mental health care in the region. Trained psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and counsellors use audio tele-networking to assist patients. For example, telepsychiatry has helped Shabroza Hussain (name changed), a young woman from Pulwama in south Kashmir, recover from bipolar depression after fighting it for more than a decade.
Despite her struggles, her father’s efforts to take her to a psychiatrist in Srinagar were thwarted by the challenges of traveling 50 kilometres twice a week. Thanks to Tele-MANAS, the 37-year-old Hussain is able to contact the telepsychiatry helpline at any time to get the relief.
While Tele-MANAS has been instrumental in bolstering the mental health of women in Kashmir, more digital literacy is required to enable more women to become tech-savvy and take advantage of digital healing, says Syed Mujtaba, a mental health advocate and Coordinator at IMHANS.
The response from telepsychiatry in Kashmir has been so overwhelming that till January this year the IMHANS in Srinagar reported receiving more than 75,000 calls from individuals in Kashmir, primarily women, who experienced anxiety, stress, and drug addiction.
The growing success of Tele-MANAS has opened a door to wellness that once seemed unreachable, offering hope and healing without the burden of travel or societal judgment. For instance, when Bashir’s OCD worsened, she faced harsh insults from her husband, being called “mad woman,” and “brainless woman,” further deepening her trauma.
However, a turning point came when Bashir’s friend shared the Tele-MANAS helpline number, offering her free counselling from the comfort of her home.
According to Guroo, through telepsychiatry 90 percent of patients were able to prevent self-harm, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Tele-MANAS in facilitating early intervention.
In order to provide extended mental health support, Tele-MANAS also launched its application and video consultation services in January 2025.
In conclusion, as Kashmir battles a mental health crisis, the telepsychiatry is breaking down barriers of stigma and distance, empowering women to seek assistance without fear of judgment. With rising success and new digital tools, Tele-MANAS is poised to transform mental health care in Kashmir.