Kashmir psychological battle emerges as violence ebbs

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) — Violence has fallen in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir, but people are starting to show signs of serious trauma after nearly 20 years of insurgency against New Delhi's rule, doctors say.

Increasing numbers of people are complaining of mental health problems, say doctors in the breathtakingly beautiful region, known as the "Switzerland of the East" before the Islamic separatist insurgency erupted in 1989.

"There's an alarming mental health crisis," leading psychologist Arshid Hussain told AFP as he ushered into his office at the state-run Kashmir Psychiatry Hospital a woman whose husband was recently shot dead by gunmen.

"The violence has dropped but the flow of people seeking psychiatric help gets higher each day," he said. "I'm getting an...