PSYCHIATRY UNDER TYRANNY - A REPORT ON THE POLITICAL ABUSE OF ROMANIAN PSYCHIATRY DURING THE CEAUSESCU YEARS

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.