WUNRN
INDIA: KASHMIR-JAMMU - WOMAN'S STORY
OF CONTINUING CONFLICT
Psychologically, women have
suffered immensely in
According to doctors at
FEMININE REALITY OF LINGERING CONFLICT IN KASHMIR-JAMMU
CASE EXAMPLE - MENTAL HEALTH TRAUMA OF COMPOUNDED TRAGEDIES
August 16, 2009
By Afsana Rashid
Srinagar - Kashmir & Jammu
True Story - Name Changed for Security
Barely five kilometers from city-centre, 22-year-old Firdousa Bano (name changed), braves the risk of constant traumas that keep on haunting her.
Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), visibly feeble Firdousa musters courage to face crude reality of life. Somewhere deep down her heart, she feels a void but never lets traumas overshadow her.
At a tender age of nine, Firdousas’ cousin, who was among the few college going youth in her locality, was killed by security forces.
As she was cultivating vegetables in a nearby piece of land, she witnessed the entire scene of killing. The scene gave her sleepless nights initially. “Caring and lovable Firdousa, turned irritable,” say her neighbours.
Her family had not enough expenses to spend on her health care. She lived in a joint family and her father was a lone breadwinner as her uncle was physically challenged.
With so many reminders around like cross-firing, grenade blasts, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) explosions, Firdousa mostly confined herself within four walls of her house.
Few years later, Firdousa’s father suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and left the family in pain and misery. Two months before his death, Firdousa says that she had gone to look after him in neighbourhood. “On the way, I found two dead bodies in a pool of blood. My heart broke into pieces.”
Now, Firdousa looked frightened as well. Some women in her locality suggest her certain medicines. “Generally, society leaves such people at the mercy of Almighty,” says Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Margoob, leading psychiatrist of the valley.
After a brief period, Firdousa’s depressed mother commits suicide as she failed to cope up with the condition of her family.
Dr. Margoob, who treats Firdousa, says, “Some community member brought her here for treatment. She was suffering from severe PTSD. Absence of social support and indifferent societal attitude usually leads to such a situation.”
Firdousa used to take 15-20 tablets of Diazepam and Alprozalam to fall asleep. “With increasing dosage of medicine, her sleep vanished,” says the psychiatrist.
Her younger brother, suffering from diabetes, was put in an orphanage due to poverty at home. As his health deteriorated, he was brought back. “Insulin was prescribed to him by doctors that he could barely afford. Finally, he passed away,” says Firdousa.
A year after, Firdousa lost her younger sister in an accident. Firdousa got married and started her life afresh. She and her husband, a petty worker, worked laboriously to eke out decent living, till he too passed away.
Facing traumas repeatedly, Firdousa turned as hard as rock. “She used to shiver, her lips often turned dry and her liver is upset,” says the psychiatrist adding, “Many women after losing their sons turn chronic patients. These are the situations where you don’t expect pills to do anything.”
Dr. Margoob says, “I salute
resilience of females under such circumstances.” He said that women in
According to him, females put up in orphanages suffer more. Suicide rate among women has gone up. Women affected by conflict suffer socially as well as psychologically.
As Dr. Margoob was offering consultations to patients at Out Patient Department of Valley’s lone Psychiatric Disease Hospital, 70-year-old woman, having no constant financial support approaches him. The psychiatrist says that she too suffers from PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and conversion.
The psychiatrist says that the trauma with which people are suffering here is entirely different from rest of the world. “Women here are at higher risk,” he says.
In early 1990’s, says Dr. Margoob, anxiety disorder was common and females suffered more. “At present, females suffer more particularly from PTSD. Females are doubly traumatized as they are the vulnerable group. Even if women haven’t suffered directly or indirectly, they are not at peace but under tremendous stress.”
Dr. Mushtaq said that the coping inherent mechanism of confronting traumatic situation is missing. Explaining his point, he says, “Women in rural areas used to assemble at “yaarbal” [river side where they generally used to fetch water] and interacted with each other. This culture is missing now. Besides, families used to go for outing as per their resources. That too is missing now and this aggravated the problem.”
The psychiatrist says that no credible data is available on number of women suffering from psychiatric problems.
Psychologically, women have
suffered immensely in
According to doctors at
Dr. Hameedullah Shah, Head of
Department, Psychiatry- Srinagar’s
He said that emotionally women are more susceptible and under stress. “Most of the times they are apprehensive about safety of their male member. Isolation and lack of interaction has been witnessed among women over here during these years,” says Dr. Hameedullah.
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