Many Yazidis suffered psychological trauma when the terrorist group "ISIS" attacked Shangal in 2014. Is has kidnapped more than 7,000 people and killed more than 1,200. More than 360,000 of the once 500,000-strong Yazidi community in Iraq have fled their hometowns to camps for displaced people.

The harmful effects on mental health were widespread, and humanitarian organizations, including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), sought help in dealing with a "serious mental health crisis that includes a large number of suicides and suicide attempts" in and around Shangal.

A recent study conducted by the refugee service (JRS), an international non-governmental organization offering psychotherapy to displaced persons, found that 120 out of 635 IDPs aged 15-25 years suffer from mental disorders.

"I can't say that one hundred percent of suicides are caused by mental illness. I would say that 90 percent of cases are related to mental illness. When a social problem arises and is not resolved, it develops and leads to a psychological problem until they commit suicide, " said rudaw Firas Sleman, a JRS psychologist. The Duhok office of displacement and migration, which has been managing all 21 IDP camps in Duhok for three months, said it was investigating suicides in these camps.

"According to our plans and Protocol, we are trying to reduce the number of such cases. We are setting up the program in accordance with other departments, including the health Department, the General Directorate for combating violence against women and all other relevant Departments, to find a solution," said the head of the Department of displacement and migration Duhoka Manal Mohammed.

Viyan Ahmed is the head of Lotus Flower in Duhok province, an international non-governmental organization and non-profit organization that supports women and girls affected by conflict and displacement. This organization has been working in camps for displaced Yazidis in Duhok since 2014.

According to Ahmed, most of those who commit suicide are women.

"The number of cases is too high, there are many suicide attempts in the camps, which the camp management does not register because of the social Convention that it brings shame to the family. Therefore they never reveal their attempts — even if a woman commits suicide, they will say that she died of natural causes." Special attention is paid to women who have been subjected to sexual slavery and violence.

"These women were captured by the ISIL group, and later released, live in normal conditions . They are taken care of either by their families or by NGOs. Some are granted asylum in Canada or in European countries, so they live in better conditions than those who faced troubles and difficulties during their relocation to the mountainous areas of Shangal. So the cases [of suicides] of these women are growing higher than those who were released from captivity by is."

Source Rudaw