SRINAGAR, Indian-administered Kashmir— Sara, 55, has suffered from acute depression since her 18-year-old son was arrested by the police in August, days after India ended Kashmir’s limited autonomy and imposed a curfew and communications lockdown that became the world’s longest-running ban on Internet access in a democracy.

During the night on Aug. 7, a police party raided Sara’s house in Shopian, South Kashmir. They were looking for her son Waseem Ahmad Sheikh, who was arrested the next morning when he went to the police station. Waseem has since been moved out of Kashmir to a jail at Ambedkar Nagar in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan with both countries claiming it in full.  The Kashmir valley has a population of 7 million people, 97 per cent of them Muslims. About 47,000 people have been killed in conflict and 3,400 people “disappeared” in the last three decades, according to government figures.

The protracted conflict in Kashmir has already taken a huge toll on the mental health of the people, with health experts calling Kashmiris a traumatized population. But people are now showing increased signs of anxiety and increasingly self-medicating with anti-depressants, according to hospitals in Srinagar.

“Everybody in Kashmir has been impacted by the current situation,” said Nazia, a psychotherapist based in Kashmir who runs a helpline for people suffering from depression. “We deal with about 50 cases monthly in our three clinics across Kashmir, majority of them are people in the age group of 15 to 29 years.”

Waseem has been charged under the Public Safety Act, a law enforced in Kashmir since 1978 that allows a person to be detained for up to two years without a trail. Human rights groups say that Indian security forces have arrested thousands of Kashmiri youth like Waseem since August on charges ranging from protesting to breaking curfew, some as young as nine years old. Some released from detention say police tortured them, electrocuting their genitals. Others allege rape.

The UN has called India’s communications block of the region “collective punishment” that’s “inconsistent with the fundamental norms of necessity and proportionality.”

A heart patient and a diabetic, Sara is now showing signs of depression-induced sleeplessness, anxiety and high blood pressure.

“I can’t sleep in the night and am restless during the day,” Sara said. “I am not able to come to terms with the separation of my son. I want to meet him.”

Waseem, a cable TV operator, is the lone bread winner of the family of four. With no money to travel to Uttar Pradesh for meeting Waseem, they broadcast desperate announcements for help from a mosque’s loudspeaker in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, a strong network of ‘Baitul Maal’ (Islamic charities) in Kashmir is helping the needy. Many charities are collecting donations and funding medical emergencies of those who cannot afford to pay.

The announcements worked. Waseem’s family collected 25,000 rupees ($360) for Waseem’s brother Fayaz Sheikh to go meet him.

“Waseem is depressed in jail in Uttar Pradesh while his family back home in Kashmir suffers from depression,” said Sheikh. “He has lost hair and has turned very weak in jail.”

According to the human rights watchdog JKCCS (Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society), at least 366 civilians died in Kashmir in 2019 in different incidents of police or military violence.

Increased signs of anxiety

According to health officials, depression among Kashmiris is manifesting more and in different forms. People show panic-like symptoms. They overreact to normal situations. There is increased heart palpitation, angry outbursts, shivering, sleeping disorders, anger, irritability and a sense of uncertainty with people constantly worrying about their future.

“The capability to cope with trauma varies from individual to individual,” said Nazia. “Those who are traumatized for the first time are in a better position to cope with it, but the coping mechanism gets weakened for those subjected to a series of traumatic experiences.”

People who have a previous history of depression are vulnerable to relapses. The majority of those showing signs of depression are students who stopped going to the schools and colleges after the lockdown was imposed and are isolated. Older people are becoming addicted to TV news, while younger people and children and addicted to games on their mobile phones and other indoor games, Nazia said.

“Youth would socialize on the social media and connect with each other through the internet, but in absence of the internet, youth of Kashmir have been excommunicated,’’ said Dr. Arshad, a psychiatrist in Srinagar.

Just a kilometer away from Sara’s house in Shopian, Fatima sitting in the corner of her house is devastated. The arrest of her 29-year-old son Zakir Hussain during a night raid on Dec. 22 has pushed her in a cycle of gloom. His arrest has upset the entire family.

Zakir, the oldest of Fatima’s three children, ran a fast food outlet near his home. In the last year, Zakir has been arrested four times on protest-related charges. He suffers from polio and has a partial disability in one leg.

Every time Fatima speaks about her arrested son, she breaks down. She refuses to eat food and hardly talks anymore.

“I am very worried about my son,” she said. “I don’t fall asleep. My mind is always occupied with his thoughts. How is he doing? Why is he arrested so often?”

“They came to arrest him during the night,” she said. “He even couldn’t get himself properly dressed when they took him away.”

Fatima’s second son Sahil, a chef, has stopped going to work since his brother was arrested. He fears that if left alone his mother’s health problems will aggravate.

“She cries whenever she starts thinking about her arrested son,” Sahil said. “She is a diabetic. The doctor is telling me that the stress caused by Zakir’s arrest is worsening her health.”

The youngest member of Fatima’s family, 18-year-old Iqra planned to marry in April. But after Zakir’s arrest, the wedding has been postponed.

 “I can’t concentrate,” Iqra said. “I am always thinking of my arrested brother. With his arrest, I feel like everything is gone.”

Despite less media attention, Kashmir is still witnessing a major standstill. Political activities have come to an instant halt as most Kashmiri politicians have remained on house arrest or detention since August. Among those arrested include three former chief ministers of Kashmir.

More people are self-medicating anxiety

Health officials at Srinagar hospitals say the increased cases of anxiety are leading many to buy anti-depressants without prescriptions and other anti-anxiety medications. Altaf Ahmad, who runs a pharmacy in downtown Srinagar, confirms that.

“Stress-releasing medicines are much in demand,” Ahmad said. “We are seeing at least a 10 percent rise in the cases of depression in Kashmir in the last three months.”

According to a 2015 survey by Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF), 45 percent of the adult population of Kashmir showed symptoms of mental distress, 41 percent of them showed signs of depression, 26 percent showed signs of anxiety and 19 percent showed probable symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

According to mental health experts, the real impact of the lockdown and communication blockade on the mental health of people will take some time to manifest fully. Nazia believes the number of cases of depression reported are only the tip of the iceberg.

“Due to the communication blockade, not everybody is able to get in touch with us on our toll free number,” Nazia said. “We don’t have a clear picture before us right now. The real impact of the lockdown in Kashmir would only be visible when normal activities resume in Kashmir.”

Taha Zahoor is a pseudonym to protect the identity of this Kashmiri journalist based in Kashmir Valley.