Challenges, fears and stigma of working on the frontline of COVID-19 in India. A blog by Smriti Singh* The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a unique challenge before frontline workers — it is to strike a balance between helping patients cope with inaccurate beliefs about the disease and managing their own fears. Three months ago, when … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the Yazidi community in the Sinjar district of northwest Iraq. Although there are not many cases recorded in the area, the restrictive measures adopted in Iraq (as in many other countries worldwide) to curb the spread of the virus are burdening the daily lives and well being of an … Read more
Ajaz Ahmad Sofi, Clinical Psychologist at MSF mental health care project in Jammu and Kashmir writes how our teams are working to meet a huge need for psychological support in the valley. “Complaints related to mental health are not new to the people in Kashmir. Decades of difficult times have led to a huge need … Read more
Are you in self-isolation? Is your mind surrounded by information related to the epidemic/pandemic? In difficult times, like during a pandemic, many people start feeling stressed, anxious and have other overwhelming emotions. MSF Psychologist Sharika Amin offers three ways to help us cope with stress during these times.
“Men can spend time outdoors; the women have to spend most of their time in their shacks. There is no privacy or physical space where they can be alone,” says Pooja Iyer, MSF’s mental health manager at the Jamtoli and Hakimpara camps for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. Iyer has been in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh … Read more
Srinagar, 8 October 2016: The international medical humanitarian organisation – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) in collaboration with Institute of Mental and Neuro Sciences (IMHANS) Kashmir conducted on 8 October 2016 at the Community Centre – a training workshop on psychological first aid (PFA) for nurses and paramedical staff to commemorate World Mental Health Day 2016. … Read more
Integrated and decentralised prevention, care and treatment programme urgently needed Jammu and Kashmir: Nearly 1.8 million adults (45% of the population) in the Kashmir Valley show symptoms of significant mental distress according to a comprehensive mental health survey conducted by the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) between October and December 2015. … Read more
