RASC News Agency: The International Organization for the Fight Against Hunger has announced that the Taliban’s resumption of control over Afghanistan has led to an increase in the number of depressed people compared to any other time, and this has made the work of psychotherapists more difficult.
The International Organization for the Fight against Hunger, in a statement published today, Wednesday, September6, said that a large number of Afghanistanis have suffered from depression as a result of several years of conflict, displacement and hunger.
In the announcement of this institution, no exact statistics of the depressed were provided, but it was stated that their number has increased significantly compared to previous years.
With the support of the British Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), the Fight Against Hunger organization has provided services in this department by establishing a telephone contact line in 2022, holding two thousand and 60 specialized psychotherapy sessions with 13 employees.
In this process, non-attendance clients have been trained by specialists in the field of suicide prevention.
Asif, one of these counselors, says that the traditional norms in the country prevent people from asking for help with their mental health challenges.
He added: “People struggling with mental health challenges can become isolated, making it more challenging to access support and appropriate treatment.”
According to an announcement of this institution, nearly 60% of the callers during this period were women.
They said that the increase in gender-based violence, lack of access to health care, barriers to education, employment and equality under the Taliban regime are among the factors that have led to women suffering from depression.
It should be mentioned that with the re-domination of the Taliban group in Afghanistan and the imposition of increasing restrictions by this group against the lives of the country’s citizens, especially women, it has caused a significant increase in the number of suicides among families compared to any other time.
