N. Adler et al., PSYCHIATRY UNDER TYRANNY - A REPORT ON THE POLITICAL ABUSE OF ROMANIAN PSYCHIATRY DURING THE CEAUSESCU YEARS, Current psychology, 12(1), 1993, pp. 3-17
Romanians suffered incredible deprivations of every sort during the de
cades of Communist dictatorship. Most of the country's 1,000 psychiatr
ists, and most of their patients, were victimized by the political sys
tem. A few psychiatrists actively engaged in practices amounting to to
rture. Many, however, became willing or unwilling participants in the
political abuse of their profession. Such political abuses were foster
ed by abusive legislation and abusive law enforcement by the secret po
lice. Abuses included: mass detentions in psychiatric hospitals of dis
sidents and political undesirables; abusive interpretation of the laws
in detaining persons not suffering from mental illness; false, politi
cally motivated diagnoses and treatment; and detention in secret facil
ities. While there are honest efforts to come to grips with the past,
to compensate victims of psychiatric abuse, and to institute proceedin
gs against abusers, there is also much resistance to reform. Reform-mi
nded Romanian psychiatrists deserve the support of their western colle
agues in the effort to restore Romanian psychiatry. In particular, pro
fessional colleagues all over the world are asked to comment on the dr
aft law currently pending before the Romanian parliament, which is int
ended to restore the rule of law to the practice of psychiatry in Roma
nia.