Srinagar, April 29 -- Kashmir has finally stepped out of a long season of denial.

People once looked away from the elephant in the room even as anxiety, trauma, depression and emotional exhaustion seeped into homes, schools and workplaces. Mental health stayed hidden behind shame and stigma. Someone seeking therapy risked being called "pagal," unstable or weak. Families buried emotional suffering beneath silence and social appearances.

That wall is slowly cracking.

Young people in Kashmir now speak more openly about panic attacks, loneliness, burnout and emotional breakdowns. College students discuss therapy the way earlier generations discussed fever or blood pressure. Parents who once dismissed counselling now accompany their childre...