Structural changes in social and cultural environments exert a fundamental influence on the formation of personality and an individual’s mental health; consequently, fiction provides a fertile ground for representing psychological crises. Focusing on Ahdab Baghdad by Riyad al-Qadi, the present study seeks to clarify the relationship between social traumas and the emergence of neurotic behavioral patterns in fictional characters. The central research question concerns how the characters confront “basic anxiety” within the turbulent context of Iraqi society, examined through the lens of Karen Horney’s theory of social psychoanalysis. The significance of this study lies in its attempt to understand the psychological roots of characters’ behavior in response to environmental pressures, a topic that calls for renewed attention in the intersection of psychology and Arabic literature. Drawing on a descriptive-analytical method, the study analyzes the characters’ defense mechanisms according to Horney’s three basic trends: moving toward people, moving against people, and moving away from people. The findings indicate that the characters, as reflections of a generation, have developed specific defensive patterns under the influence of cultural and social traumas in order to reduce anxiety and strive to satisfy basic needs. By explaining the role of the environment in shaping neurotic traits, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how psychosocial crises are represented in contemporary narratives. The results further show the predominance of the “moving against people” pattern among the characters, manifested in domineering behaviors and the exercise of power as a means of managing anxiety. Overall, the study demonstrates that characters respond to environmental traumas through diverse defensive patterns.