Despite the rising burden of mental illnesses, clinical psychologists and social workers in Kashmir face neglect, underpayment, and cultural undervaluation. This hinders the region’s path toward effective, holistic mental health care.
When mental illnesses become one of the primary contributors to the global disease burden—measured in Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) (GBD, 2021)—and are comparable to cardiovascular and circulatory diseases in terms of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) (Vigo, 2016), the urgency of the situation is evident. International bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) have long advocated for the integration of all stakeholders, including local healing traditions, into healthcare systems (WHO, 2014). The aim is a progressive shift toward mental health services that are more accessible, culturally resonant, and effective.
There is no need to emphasise further the importance of non-pharmacological interventions such as psychotherapy and its proven role in managing mental health conditions.
Yet in Kashmir, those entrusted with providing this care—particularly clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers—are themselves struggling within a system that marginalises them. Despite years of intensive training and the time and emotional labour they invest in their patients, they remain underpaid, unrecognised, and too often relegated to a secondary role beneath psychiatry.
In government hospitals, clinical psychologists frequently face multiple challenges, one of which is pay disparity. They are often placed on salary scales equivalent to non-specialist staff—sometimes as low as Level 4 grade pay—while medical professionals enjoy Level 10. This is not just an economic injustice but a professional slight.
In one of Srinagar’s leading hospitals, around 35 psychiatrists work alongside just two clinical psychologists and one visiting consultant. Yet these two psychologists are expected to train 16 M.Phil. clinical psychology scholars. Such a disproportionate staff-to-trainee ratio raises serious concerns about the quality of training, clinical supervision, and the future of mental health services in the region.
The problem, however, is not merely administrative—it is deeply cultural. Mental health professionals from social science backgrounds are routinely overlooked by both the public and their medical peers, despite the widely acknowledged psychosocial dimensions of mental illness. In a region like Kashmir, grappling with deep-seated trauma and chronic uncertainty, the irony is stark: the very system tasked with healing psychological wounds is itself fractured.
When caregivers are undervalued, overworked, and unsupported, how can a robust mental health framework possibly be sustained? If this is the scenario in Kashmir’s premier institutions, one can only imagine the plight in peripheral hospitals, where resources and staff are even scarcer.
It is high time that authorities recognise a fundamental truth: effective mental health care is impossible without equity, dignity, and fair recognition for every professional involved, not just psychiatrists. Until such structural and cultural shifts occur, the mental health crisis in Kashmir will continue unabated, not only among patients but also among the professionals entrusted with their care.
The writer is a Clinical Psychologist and Research Scholar at the University of Kashmir
Sabahat Muzaffar
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