The Conversation Kashmiri Families Are Avoiding — And Why It's Time to Have It

There's a conversation happening in living rooms across Jammu & Kashmir right now, usually in whispers, sometimes not at all. A son who's stopped eating with the family. A husband who disappears for hours and comes back different. A daughter whose grades dropped and nobody wants to ask why. Substance abuse has been climbing quietly across the region, and this year the number of people seeking treatment reached its highest point in five years. That's not a small statistic. That's tens of thousands of families who finally said something, and it likely means many more who haven't yet. Nobody wants to believe it's happening in their own home. There's a kind of shame attached to it here that makes people cover for each other, hope it passes, or convince themselves it's just a phase. Meanwhile, the person struggling often feels the same shame, just from the other side, afraid that admitting it means losing their family's trust or respect forever. Both sides end up stuck in silence, and silence is exactly what lets things get worse. Here's the part that doesn't get said enough: addiction isn't a moral failure, and it isn't something a person can simply decide to stop through willpower alone. It changes how the brain processes stress, reward, and decision-making. That's not an excuse, it's just biology, and understanding that can be the difference between a family that turns someone away and a family that stays in the fight with them. If you're reading this because someone you love is struggling, you're probably exhausted. You may have tried talking, pleading, threatening, or simply pretending it isn't happening because you don't know what else to do. That exhaustion is real, and you deserve support too, not just the person who's unwell. What actually helps is starting with a real conversation with a professional, someone trained to look at the whole picture, not just the behavior everyone's noticed. A psychiatric consultation is often the first real step, a chance to understand what's actually going on and what kind of support makes sense from there, whether that's counseling, a structured treatment plan, or ongoing family guidance. If your family is going through this, you don't have to figure it out alone, and you don't have to have all the answers before you walk through the door. Our psychiatry consultants at Ibn Sina Hospital are here to have that first conversation with you, quietly, without judgment, whenever you're ready. Call 9622552553 to speak with our team. This is happening in Jammu, in Kashmir, in villages and cities alike, more than most people realize. The families who reach out first are usually the ones who look back and wish they had done it sooner.