Impact of daily life stressors on mental health in armed conflict: A case study of curfew and restrictions in Kashmir

Pages: 445-450
Aabid Bhat and Zubair Meenai (Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi )

This paper analyses the impact of Daily Life Stressors on mental health of people living in Kashmir. As evident from various studies, daily stressors act as mediator between the war exposure and the symptoms of mental health illness. It has been seen that daily life stressors influence the mental health, compared to potential trauma events. Daily life stressor acts as a precipitating and perpetuating factor for mental health illnesses. Using the “Bio Psycho-Social Model” and the Model adopted by Fernando et al. this study shows the relation between the daily stressors and mental health. Kashmir under active armed conflict makes population to encounter daily life stressors in one or other form. This paper will discuss the setting of persistent curfew and restrictions in Kashmir as daily stressors, how it influences the lives and its cumulative impact on the psychology of people using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The study is empirical, highlighting the subjective lived experiences of the people. It is qualitative in nature, utilizes interview as a method of procuring data. This study reveals various mental health issues people in Curfew situations are encountered with.