DUHOK, Kurdistan Region — A German-funded clinic in Duhok is providing psychotherapy for people suffering from mental health conditions, including Yazidi survivors of the Islamic State group (ISIS), filling a gap in the Kurdistan Region’s health care system.
“People in the Kurdistan Region have suffered with mental health problems not only since ISIS emerged, but since the Halabja and Anfal genocides. The need for help is great, but not everyone can get treatment abroad,” said Jan Ilhan Kizilhan.
He is a Yazidi psychologist, originally from Turkey and grew up in Germany. After ISIS attacked Shingal, he established the Institute of Psychotherapy & Psychotraumatology, University of Duhok.
“We educate scientists from our nation in order to provide psychotherapy to our citizens. Thus, we teach psychotherapists and Master’s students so they can eventually become psychotherapists and provide treatment to patients,” he explained.
The IPP German Clinic for Psychotherapy is part of that institute and opened last year.
One woman getting help at the clinic lived for five years in ISIS captivity. She and nine members of her family were seized by the militants in 2014. She was freed in 2019, but five of her family are still missing.
“I used to have nightmares while sleeping. I often heard the sounds of jets in my dreams. I was scared. I used to be alone. I didn't want to talk to anybody,” she explained, speaking on condition of anonymity.
She suffers from depression and is receiving therapy at the clinic.
There are seven psychiatrists employed at the clinic, and their services are free.
“The treatment is called talking therapy or psychotherapy. We either work on processing bad events that happen to you, that means working through bad memories until the memories don't bother you so much anymore. In this way, we can help you with your fears,” explained Terry Porsild, head of the clinic.
About 360,000 Yazidis fled ISIS attacks on Shingal. Many are still living in camps in the Kurdistan Region. Earlier this year, rising numbers of deaths by suicide in the camps sparked demands for the government to do more to help the Yazidi community. Many people do not seek help for mental health issues because of stigmas and misunderstandings about the psychiatric field.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the woman interviewed had received treatment at the clinic. The reporter has since clarified she received treatment elsewhere.
