'Kath Bath' inititaive: Kin of Covid victims to get counselling in Valley

SRINAGAR:  As Covid-19 infections have fallen considerably in Kashmir and people are venturing out freely, health authorities have launched a community outreach programme to provide psychiatric counselling to the families which lost family members to the pandemic in the last two years.

The Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) of Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar on Thursday launched the initiative called Kath Bath (a conversation) offering psycho-social help to the families of Covid victims.

IMHANS has formed a team comprising a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, counsellor and social worker to reach out to these families.

Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 4,750 deaths due to Covid since the outbreak of the pandemic. Of these, 2,423 deaths took place in Kashmir. According to the principal of GMC Srinagar, Prof Samia Rashid, a lot of people faced stigma and restrictions on funeral rituals during the pandemic and the trauma of this persists in several families. 

She said they voluntarily designed this (psycho-social help) programme so that people could avail this service without shame. Dr Arshid Hussain, professor of Psychiatry at IMHANS, said mental health of people has taken a hit in the last two years and the aim of the programme is to start the process of healing. 

Stating that certain high-risk groups were not availing mental health facilities, he said: “We understand that within these families, there are small issues that can be resolved by talking to them.”  There is unresolved grief in some families, he said, as during the first phase of the pandemic, many families could not properly follow the mourning rituals.