Iraq: Treating Trauma

Iraq Mends a System to Treat Trauma

Mohammed Ziara, 11, is taking part in therapy sessions at the Sara Center for Trauma in Basra, Iraq's first multidisciplinary clinic for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Iraq’s mental health care system was once advanced for the region, but by 2006 fewer than 100 psychiatrists remained in a population of about 30 million, and almost no psychologists. Patients were isolated in understaffed institutions, apart from their families and communities.

But now the government has embarked on an ambitious program to rebuild its ruined mental health care system in a country experiencing more than its share of traumas and stress.....>>>>>