Srinagar, Oct. 30 -- I have spent years watching patients in Kashmir walk into clinics with pain that has no clear name.

Some come complaining of backaches, dizziness, or breathlessness. Others describe sleepless nights or a strange heaviness that never leaves them.

When you listen longer, their stories unfold into something deeper: a life shaped by fear, uncertainty, and loss.

For over three decades, our valley has lived through cycles of unrest that have left marks far beyond the physical. The broken bones and shattered structures are visible. But the anxiety, trauma, and despair are not.

Yet it is these invisible wounds that have silently changed how people here think, feel, and relate to one another.

Studies over the years hav...