Venezuela's economic crisis has put its health system in danger. Thousands of patients have been left to fend for themselves, as the country experiences critical shortages of medicine.

Pedro Maldonado, a bipolar patient in Venezuela, reaches for his prescription medications every morning after his alarm rings. Like thousands of mental health patients in Venezuela, he struggles every day to make sure his supply of medication doesn't run out. 

"Most of the time, I can't find my pills at any price. Getting my medicine from abroad is impossible because the government doesn't have any humanitarian agreements to help us receive medicines from other countries,” said Pedro.

With only a 10-day supply left, Pedro will spend his time going from pharmacy to pharmacy across the Venezuelan capital to look for more. 

"Without my medicine, I have no appetite, my perception of reality is different, and it's really a nightmare for me. I stay away from other people." 

According to the Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Federation, 40 pharmacies across the country have closed their doors during the past few last months. Organizations like NGO have started offering group therapy. But mental health professionals say that's no substitute for medication. 

Rolling power blackouts, shortages in medicine and medical supplies, and the exodus of health workers have forced many of Venezuela's mental wards to release their patients. The consequences can be tragic. 

Dr.Wadalberto Rodriguez, president of the Venezuelan Psychiatric Association, said that suicides have increasingly grown more frequent in Venezuela over the last months, due to many mentally ill people not being able to get the right treatment for their conditions.

While the Venezuelan government continually denies that its public hospitals are suffering from shortages of medicine, doctors, patients and their families are pleading for help. Health workers have taken to the streets recently to protest the conditions in hospitals and clinics, asking the government to put policies in place to help people who need treatment.