How Does the Human Soul Survive Atrocity?

2019年10月31日星期四

October 31, 2019

Mental-health care is almost nonexistent in Iraq. Iraqis have suffered under almost 40 years of continuous conflict — a torturous dictatorship, the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, the two gulf wars, years of devastating economic sanctions, a civil war, the Islamic State — and yet the country has almost no trained professionals to treat an epidemic of war-induced psychological disorders. It is estimated that almost one in five Iraqis suffers from mental illness.

In this week's cover story, reporter Jennifer Percy and photographer Adam Ferguson follow the mission to train the first generation of psychotherapists in Iraq as they try to help survivors of ISIS captivity.

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