The Depression that has set in the Kashmiris in the past seven years of trouble has caused or aggravated several physical disorders among the local populace in the State. Though no exact survey has been conducted on the subject, clinical records suggest the shrinking hospitals and multiplying patients.

Patients suffering from various psychosomatic diseases are visiting hospitals and clinics in large numbers and the doctors are over-burdened with the workload.

With a special mention of heart ailments, the doctors in the hospitals and clinics maintain that the number of chronic cases have touched the new apogee. Cardiac arrests have become frequent, says Dr Hubibullah Zargar former principal of Government Medical College. "These may be in the form of angina (heart pain) or increase in palpitation rate," he elaborates.

The disease is said to be more common in men than women. "The menfolk are more exposed to the violent situation" explains Dr Raoof, a physician.

Exposure to various stresses has also led to increase in various gastrointestinal tract diseases by affecting the motility. If the doctors are to be believed, the functional gut diseases have marked an increase of about 140-150% over the years of trouble in the Valley. Dr G N Yaloo of Gastroenterology Department of SK Institute of Medical Sciences [SKIMS], said: "These include dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing; chest pain of food-pipe origin, recurrent pain and discomfort in the upper abdomen and change in bowel habits, the most frequently encountered disorder."

Such patients are being examined in the SKIMS twice a week. This has resulted in the lack of proper care to the real patients who come from wide places of the Valley to this tertiary care center. " At times we even wrongly diagnose due to lack of time" says a doctor in the Institute.

Besides functional gut disorders, the stressful life in Kashmir has led to increased incidence of ulceration in the duodenum. "Hurry, worry and curry are the important factors for such ulcers," says Dr Meraj-ud-Din Butt, a consultant in Gastroenterology Department of SKIMS.

Paucity of time has left the people of Kashmir worried because of any serious health trouble at any time. They eat curry because the vegetable-growing fields have been replaced by graveyards.

"We have also encountered patients with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases [ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease] who were already in remission." Dr Butt adds: " The psychological factors have contributed to flare-up in the diseases among the patients." Some other diseases like neurodermatitic (inflammation or rashness of skin), asthma, masculine-skeletal diseases and arthritis are also reported to have shown a steep rise in the past years of violence. Hypertension has led to increased addiction to smoking.

The magnitude of the problem is reported higher from the poor families who have less resistance power against the horrors of life due to pressing financial conditions. Excesses against women have also been noticed as one of the causes for abnormalities among the poor; in many cases, victims have developed hatred and became abnormally aggressive.

Pharmaceutical distributors and medical shop owners agree that there has been a steep rise in the sale of related medicines. "Earlier it were depressant drugs that were in great demand. Now other medicines too are selling at the same pace," says Imtiaz Ahamad, a chemist in Civil Lines area in Srinagar.

"After anti-anxiety drugs, it is painkillers that are the most sought medicines," says another medical shop owner. He says that the sale of pain-killers has shown an increase of 300% in the past five years.

Going by the increasing rate of patients suffering from various psychological and psychosomatic ailments "almost 99% of the population in the Valley are sick," feels Dr Nazir Mushtaq, a physician. One finds a medical shop after every 10 other provisional stores in the cities and towns of Kashmir. There are almost 150 unauthorized medical shops and distributing agencies in Srinagar alone. Militants, in the past have on many occasions raided these shops and destroyed the sub-standard drugs. There is no check from the Government side on the sale and distribution of medicines by unauthorised dealers and shop owners.