January 10, 2008 By Robert Amsterdam

Belt-Tightening Psychiatry

After we posted his recent series of articles about punitive psychiatry in Yaroslavl Oblast, Grigory Pasko received the following from a resident of Rybinsk who has been following the Novikov case closely and wanted to share his own thoughts on the subject. We have been informed that the author has personally never had any encounters with the Russian mental health system, and would very much like things to stay that way, hence he has asked that his article appear under a pseudonym. We have honored this request, and are pleased to post the article, as we believe the whole issue of the resurrection of punitive psychiatry in Russia is an alarming trend that to be urgently addressed. We hope to continue posting more material on the topic in the future.