Mental Health Issues in Contemporary Russia

Abstract

In contemporary Russia, mental health issues are most urgent for numerous reasons, among which it is necessary to point out apart from those that are typical for the majority of developed and developing countries the deep political and economic crisis through which the country is going. The precursor and, in many respects, the cause of this crisis is the epoch of communist dictatorship that lasted for over 70 years. That epoch was superseded by the perestroika (restructuring) and the post -perestroika period with its attempts to democratize the society, which have not always been successful and have aroused a skeptical attitude to the undergoing reforms in many people and have resulted in chronic stress. All this has caused a material and spiritual impoverishment of a considerable part of Russia's population. The crisis has affected, to a greater or lesser extent, all the strata of society and has led to an unprecedented increase in the number of psychiatric disorders, most of all, in the form of different types of deviant and self-destructive behavior. Among the factors that have caused this growth over the last 15 years, one should point out, undoubtedly, ethnical and confessional conflicts. The demographic indices have deteriorated dramatically: According to various official and semi-official returns, the annual population decrease is as great as 700,000 to 1,000,000 or more people, which is due to a birth-rate decrease on the one hand and a death-rate growth on the other hand. These