SRINAGAR, June 20: About one fifth of orphans in Kashmir are suffering from mental depression, a study by international Non-Governmental Organisation, Save the Children, has revealed.
The report titled ‘Orphaned in Kashmir’ also says that 40 percent of the orphans showed signs of nervousness and 11 percent of them had withdrawal symptoms.
There is no official data on the number of and orphans in Jammu and Kashmir. But, two decades of armed conflict has left the region with an army of orphans. Recently, a report by Save the Childre put the number of orphans of the conflict at just more than 70,000.
The children showed symptoms indicating trauma and they include recurring nightmares, lack of appetite, gazing at space and drug addiction. One percent of orphans have committed suicide, the report also says.
The findings are based on the response from orphans and not psychiatric examinations, the report says.
