biology

Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union

Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union rather than just read about it. In short: There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem, rather than a social, political, or material one. The extent of this abuse depended on the time period.

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Reference excerpt

There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem, rather than a social, political, or material one. The extent of this abuse depended on the time period. It started in the late 1940s and was systemic in the 1960s to the mid-1980s. The Criminal Code was applied in conjunction with the system of diagnosis for mental illness developed by Andrei Snezhnevsky to establish a framework within which non-standard beliefs could easily be defined as criminal offences and subsequently be the basis for a psychiatric diagnosis. Diagnoses such as "sluggish schizophrenia" or "political intoxication" were applied to dissenters, who were then incarcerated in psychiatric wards with poor living conditions. Psychiatry allowed Soviet authorities to bypass standard legal procedures and avoid the odium attached to political trials. Dissidence was also thus discredited as the result of unhealthy minds. At least 20,000 dissenters were put in psychiatric hospitals for political crimes. Russia is still impacted by Soviet political abuse of psychiatry.

Definition Political abuse of psychiatry is the misuse of psychiatric diagnosis, detention and treatment for the purposes of obstructing the fundamental human rights of certain groups and individuals in a society. Punitive psychiatry is based upon "the deliberate interpretation of dissent [...] as a psychiatric problem". It entails the exculpation and committal of citizens to psychiatric facilities based upon political rather than mental health-based criteria. Punitive psychiatry is neither a distinct subject nor a psychiatric specialty. It is the result of members of the psychiatric profession serving the state's will in matters of repression – a phenomenon that happens in the applied sciences of many totalitarian countries.

Mechanisms

Motives The diagnosis of mental disease can give the state license to detain persons against their will and insist upon therapy both in the interest of the detainee and in the broader interests of society. In addition, receiving a psychiatric diagnosis is itself oppressive. Punitive medicine (punitive psychiatry) is used to repress dissidents that cannot be punished by legal means. Psychiatry can be used to bypass standard legal procedures for establishing guilt or innocence and allow political incarceration without the ordinary odium attached to such political trials. Psychiatric power in practically all societies expands on the grounds of public safety, which, in the USSR, was best maintained by the repression of dissidence. The definition of danger was radically extended by the Soviet criminal system to cover "political" as well as customary physical types of "danger". Sending dissenters to psychiatrists also discredited dissidence as the product of unhealthy minds.

Diagnosis Forensic psychiatrists were asked to examine offenders whose mental state was considered abnormal by the investigating officers. People could also be hospitalized on the request of their headman, their relatives or a district psychiatrist. Dissidents were almost always examined at the Serbsky Central Research Institute for Forensic Psychiatry in Moscow, where they were subjected to a forensic-psychiatric expert evaluation. Patients could also be examined by prison doctors or at clinics. The "anti-Soviet" political behavior of some individuals was defined simultaneously as criminal acts (e.g., a violation of Articles 70 or 190–1), symptoms of mental illness (e.g., "delusion of reformism"), and susceptible to a ready-made diagnosis (e.g., "sluggish schizophrenia", "political intoxication" or "philosophical intoxication"). The explanation of dissent as a psychiatric problem was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent. The accused had no right of appeal. The right was given to their relatives or other interested persons, who were not allowed to nominate psychiatrists to evaluate the patient. All psychiatrists were considered equally credible before the law and fully independent. The political abuse of psychiatry in the USSR arose from the conception that opponents of the Soviet regime were sick since there was no other logical reason to oppose the best sociopolitical system.

Types of persecuted dissidence The psychiatric incarceration of certain individuals was prompted by their attempts to emigrate, to distribute or possess prohibited documents or books, to participate in civil rights protests and demonstrations, to be involved in forbidden religious activities and to write critical books.

Classification of mental disorders

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union

In research: Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cold War history of the Soviet Union, Control (social and political), Era of Stagnation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

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