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Psychiatric services under strain as cases of mental
illness rise.
Fadhil Abdullah lay in a hospital bed, pale and
barely able to move or speak. The 29-year-old
peshmerga, who had been living in Iran, had just
been given electric shock for his depression, a
condition that had left him unable to speak for long
periods of time.
Abdullah had been at Sulaimaniyah Hospital for two
weeks and, despite the harshness of his cure, is
considered to be one of the lucky ones in a country
where treatment options for the mentally ill are
woefully inadequate.
In Sulaimaniyah, with a population of 640,000, the
only place people can turn for mental health
services is the local 32-bed hospital.
Patients pay 1,500 dinars (one US dollar) for each
24 hours they stay.
Physicians decide who should be admitted, but
because there are so few beds, some who need to be
hospitalised must be treated outside.
Many patients and their families find it
embarrassing to admit that a relation has a
psychiatric problem, so many cases go unreported.
Experts, however, believe mental illness is on the
rise, blaming the increasing violence, chaos and
deterioration in living conditions. The breakdown of
families as a result of the years of war has also
contributed to the increase, as has the political
situation, which has made people pessimistic about
their future.
"As life gets complicated, the psychological state
of human beings gets complicated, too," said Salah
Hasan, a therapist at Sulaimaniyah Hospital.
Jamal Omer Tofiq, a psychiatrist and neurologist at
the Sulaimaniyah administration's ministry of
health, said 30 per cent of patients have a mental
disorder.
"We should increase the number of physicians,
therapists and social workers," he said. "And there
should be dissemination of information on mental
illness through the media, schools and humanitarian
organisations."
Though progress is being made in increasing the
services available to the mentally ill - the health
ministry planning to build a treatment centre in
Taslooja, west of Sulaimaniyah - conditions in
existing facilities remain difficult.
Ghareeb Salih, 37, has spent a week in the
psychiatric ward at Sulaimaniyah Hospital, where he
claimed a medic switched the power off at night and
threatened the patients when they said they would go
to the media.
"He said 'write what you want, I'll shove my shoes
in your mouth'," said Salih, who is being treated
with tranquilisers for his nerves but has been told
he may need electric shock therapy.
He blames his wife for his present condition. "She
called me bad names and drove me out of my mind," he
said.
Even if the services were available, not all Iraqis
want to go to a doctor or therapist for treatment. A
34-year-old man decided to visit Imams and other
religious figures to help him get through mental
problems he thinks were brought on by his mother's
refusal to allow him to marry the woman of his
choice.
With their help, he said he has been improving. "My
mother is the most powerful authority at home and
because she was the decision maker, I could not get
married to whom I wanted," he said. "After that I
went mad. But now I treat people normally."
Ismael Osman is an IWPR trainee in Sulaimaniyah.
www.iwpr.net
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