PESHAWAR: Psychological disorders on the rise in conflict-hit areas
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Nov 25: People have been suffering from psychological disorders and severe depression because of the conflict in the Waziristan tribal region and Swat and doctors say that people’s distress is rising at an alarming rate.
Psychiatrists say that growing violence in the areas is affecting the people adversely, with children being particularly vulnerable.
Exact statistics are not available, but the doctors say there is a considerable increase in the number of people suffering from severe post-traumatic disorders.
Most people in the conflict-hit areas are neither on the militants’ side nor happy with the military operations and find themselves unable to do anything to help improve the situation.
The issue came to light after cases of severe mental disorder, particularly in women, were reported from hospitals in Bannu and Peshawar and from several villages of Mirali tehsil in the North Waziristan Agency.
Dr Muhammad Bashir, who works for a government-run hospital in Bannu, said: “Every second person in Waziristan is suffering from depression.”
He said that women and children had been brought to the main hospital with complaints of having experienced nightmares.
A doctor in Mirali hospital said that psychological trauma was common among the people of the area though a majority of the cases had gone unreported because the people were reluctant to admit that they had some mental problem.
“People here believe in self-medication and purchase drugs to counter depression,” said a local doctor.
The 200-bed hospital in Mirali town does not have proper treatment facilities for patients. Pharmacists in Mirali town say that the sale of anti-anxiety and anti-depression drugs has gone up in the area.
Talking to Dawn in Peshawar, a senior psychiatrist said that initially patients were coming only from the North and South Waziristan agencies, but now a large number of patients were coming from Swat too.
People say that women and children have been badly affected and they are more prone to anxiety and depression as compared to men.
“I think all the people are equally affected: men, women, children all have been affected. Children have lost their homes, their schools are closed and they no longer have an atmosphere which is conducive to productive growth,” the doctor said.
He said the big dilemma was that the people did not consider it a disease because of the lack of knowledge and social taboos.
“When I talk to the people if the violence has affected you, they often shrug off and say: “No, our area is totally safe and the affected area is about 20 miles away.”
Giving an example, a psychiatrist said: “A 10-year-old girl was brought to my clinic in an extremely frightened state.
She had witnessed a bomb blast with limbs of the victims flying in the air and charred bodies and then saw beheaded and naked bodies of the victims killed by Taliban with heads of the victims pegged to their bodies.
“Her mother said in a very mocking and sarcastic tone that she (the daughter) is a coward,” the doctor said.
“Lately, we have seen some people who became psycho patients after having seen CDs of soldiers being slaughtered by Taliban and some others affected by overcrowded conditions in their houses because of the mass exodus of the people from violence-hit areas of Swat valley,” the doctor said.
