General Discussion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union

There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union,[1] based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem.[2] It was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent.[3]

During the leadership of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, psychiatry was used to disable and remove from society political opponents (Soviet dissidents) who openly expressed beliefs that contradicted the official dogma.[4][5] The term "philosophical intoxication", for instance, was widely applied to the mental disorders diagnosed when people disagreed with the country's Communist leaders and, by referring to the writings of the Founding Fathers of Marxism–Leninism—Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin—made them the target of criticism.[6] Another common pseudo-diagnosis was "sluggish schizophrenia".

Article 58-10 of the Stalin-era Criminal Code, "Anti-Soviet agitation", was to a considerable degree preserved in the new 1958 Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Criminal Code as Article 70 "Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda". In 1967, a weaker law, Article 190-1 "Dissemination of fabrications known to be false, which defame the Soviet political and social system", was added to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Criminal Code. These laws were frequently applied in conjunction with the system of diagnosis for mental illness, developed by academician Andrei Snezhnevsky. Together, they established a framework within which non-standard beliefs could easily be defined as a criminal offence and the basis, subsequently, for a psychiatric diagnosis.[7]

The "anti-Soviet" political behavior of some individuals – being outspoken in their opposition to the authorities, demonstrating for reform, and writing critical books – were 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" ).[8] Within the boundaries of the diagnostic category, the symptoms of pessimism, poor social adaptation and conflict with authorities were themselves sufficient for a formal diagnosis of "sluggish schizophrenia".[9]

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, and become involved in forbidden religious activities.[10] In accordance with the doctrine of state atheism, the religious beliefs of prisoners, including those of well-educated former atheists who had become adherents of a religious faith, was considered to be a form of mental illness that required treatment.[11][12] The KGB routinely sent dissenters to psychiatrists for diagnosis, in order to discredit dissidence as the product of unhealthy minds and to avoid the embarrassment caused by public trials.[13] Highly classified government documents that became available after the dissolution of the Soviet Union confirm that the authorities consciously used psychiatry as a tool to suppress dissent.[14]