Cold war in psychiatry : human factors, secret actors

Abstract

For 20 years Soviet psychiatric abuse dominated the agenda of the World Psychiatric Association. The abuse ended only after the Soviet Foreign Ministry intervened. 'Cold War in Psychiatry' tells the full inside story for the first time, drawing from extensive reports by the Stasi and KGB. Who were the secret actors? What were the hidden factors? Robert van Voren (1959), a Sovietologist by education, has been a human rights activist since 1977 with a special interest in mental health issues. He is Chief Executive of GIP. He has written extensively on Soviet issues and, in particular, issues related to mental health and human rights, including a dozen books. His memoirs, 'On Dissidents and Madness' was published by Rodopi in 2009.