Our Work in Mental Health
The mental health work of IAM started in 1996 in Herat. It was a response to the high suicide rate among the women of the region.
At that time there was hardly any awareness and understanding of mental health issues. This was true both in the society and among government officials. Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health had declared mental health care as one of its priorities.
The goal of the Mental Health Programme is to “contribute to the efforts of Afghan Government and the private sector to improve the mental health of the Afghan people”.
The Programme aims to build the capacity of professional medical staff and to raise the awareness about mental health problems in communities.
Since 2006, IAM´s mental health programme has systematically trained all primary health care providers (i.e. community health supervisors, nurses/ midwives and doctors) throughout the Western Region to carry out mental health services in the health facilities. The programme has also focused on training non-medical professionals (like teachers and religious teachers) in the Western and Northern Region, producing TV, radio programs, and publishing a quarterly magazine to raise awareness about mental health matters.
Over the years the Mental Health Programme has expanded and shifted over the years into a variety of different capacities.
Our previous projects include the Mental Health Training Centre-Herat, which functions as an outpatient clinic where doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals receive further training in mental health, was transferred over to the government in 2017-2018. The Community Mental Health Project-Herat focused on educating the larger public about mental health issues, and came to a close in 2017. The Mental Health Training Centre-Mazar, which was an extension of the work that has been going on in western Afghanistan, closed in 2016.
Our Current Work
Currently, the Mental Health Programme consists of four projects that started in 2018. These projects include the Community Based Mental Health Project, which aims to sustainably improve the lives of People with Psychosocial Disabilities (PPSD) and their families through integrated social, psychological and medical care and increased social inclusion; the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Project, of which aims to create sustainable improvement in mental health and full inclusion into community life for children with psycho-social disabilities (CPSD); the Youth Emotional Resiliency Project, which aims to sustainably improve the emotional resilience of young people in the western Afghanistan; and the Positive Parenting Project, which aims to reduce violence against children both at school and in the home. Find out more about each project by clicking their respective links.
Posts about Mental Health Programme 28
Sadiqa struggled to best help her son, Aziz, who has a psychosocial disability. It wasn’t until they came to IAM’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Centre that they started seeing some real changes. Read more about their story, and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Project, here.
A key part of our mental health programme is to increase awareness about mental health disorders and dispel some of the stigmas that surround mental health disorders. This year, we were able to produce five short videos to address stigmas and educate people about mental health disorders. The first video aims to fight the stigma that people with mental health disorders cannot hold jobs. Check out the video here!
Our Mental Health Programme works in a myriad of ways to improve the lives of people living with pyschosocial disability in Afghanistan. One of the ways to improve the mental health situation in Afghanistan is to publish research alongside the mental health community and health sector work.
A Call for Abstracts National Mental Health Symposium will be organized around the theme “Achievements, Challenges and Priorities of Mental Health Services in Afghanistan”. This is an initiative by Ministry […]
A Mental Health Film on Epilepsy in Afghanistan IAM’s Mental Health Programme has been working on raising awareness about mental health issues in a variety of different ways. One of […]
Meet Hasiba. Hasiba is a 15-year-old girl who was married very young, who shared her story about her journey with mental health and finding hope. “Unfortunately, my first baby died. […]
After months of worrying about her daughter, a concerned mother brought her to the Mental Health Training Centre, Herat (MHTC-H). The clinic doctor remembers that she was very thin and […]
Mental Health Is Important At All Ages Two worried parents brought their teenage daughter to the Mental Health Training Centre in Herat (MHTC-H). For 4 years, their daughter had been […]
Hamidullah has lived with epilepsy for 5 years. His condition used to have a severe effect on his life. In the last 2 years, however, things have improved for him. […]
Young man values help with mental health problems Meet Barkatullah. He is 19 years old, and recently got married. Now, he lives with his wife in a shared house with his […]