30 million people, 100 psychiatrists

Across Iraq, 100 psychiatrists are available to serve a population of about 30 million people, Iraq’s psychiatric association says. Many people self-medicate, and prescription drug abuse is now the number one substance abuse problem in Iraq. The most abused drug is called Artane, known generically as trihexyphenidyl but referred to in Iraq as the “pill of courage,” with a marked sedative effect.

At the country’s largest and only long-term mental health institution, Al-Rashad, this year has seen a 10 percent increase in patients, and doctors say they’ve had to turn people away from the government-funded facility because of crowding.

For Shaker and for scores of other Iraqis, every street is a reminder of what was, what is and what could be again: Reminders of people gingerly stepping over the bodies thrown in the streets in tit-for-tat killings between sects during the sectarian war. Reminders of the U.S. military raids, Iraqi military raids, militia interrogations, assassinations and insurgent bombings. Now the violence has subsided to a lower but still frightening level, and many Iraqis struggle to deal with the trauma of their past and the uncertainty of their future.