Impact of Conflict on Mental Health with Special Reference to Kashmir Valley

Conflict has a negative impact on the lives of people and the society as a whole. The emotional and psychological effect of the consequential violence is deeply felt by all, irrespective of gender, age, career and locality. In Kashmir the conflict has brought about insecurity, breakdown of social relations and families. This has led to the youth of Kashmir to switch to drugs or undertake anti-social activities. In health care and the field of public health, a lot of stress and resources have been devoted to the screening, diagnosis, and cure of mental illness than focusing on mental health. Little has been done to guard the mental health of those free of mental illness. The present paper throws light on the impact of conflict on mental health with special reference to Kashmir. The paper is a literature based on the previous studies. The concept of conflict is looked into and a reference to the impact of conflict in Kashmir has been made. It explains health, mental health, the indicators of mental health and how there is more focus on mental illness rather than mental health. Finally there is an exploration of the impact of violence in Kashmir.