Sluggish schizophrenia was the most infamous of diagnoses used by Soviet psychiatrists, due to its usage against political dissidents
Sluggish schizophrenia
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Sluggish schizophrenia or slow progressive schizophrenia (Russian: вялотеку́щая шизофрени́я, vyalotekushchaya shizofreniya)[1] was a diagnostic category used in the Soviet Union to describe what they claimed was a form of schizophrenia characterized by a slowly progressive course; it was diagnosed even in a patient who showed no symptoms of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, on the assumption that these symptoms would appear later.[2] It was developed in the 1960s by Soviet psychiatrist Andrei Snezhnevsky and his colleagues,[3][4] and was used exclusively in the USSR and several Eastern Bloc countries, until the fall of Communism starting in 1989.[5] The diagnosis has long been discredited because of its scientific inadequacy and its use as a means of confining dissenters.[6] It has never been used or recognized outside of Soviet Union,[7] or by international organizations such as the World Health Organization.[8] It is considered a prime example of the political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union.[9]
Sluggish schizophrenia was the most infamous of diagnoses used by Soviet psychiatrists, due to its usage against political dissidents.[10] After being discharged from a hospital, persons diagnosed with sluggish schizophrenia were deprived of their civic rights, credibility and employability.[11] The usage of this diagnosis has been internationally condemned.[12]
In the Russian version of the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), which has long been used throughout present-day Russia, sluggish schizophrenia is no longer listed as a form of schizophrenia,[13] but it is still included as a schizotypal disorder in section F21 of chapter V.[14]
According to Sergei Jargin, the same Russian term "vyalotekushchaya" for sluggish schizophrenia continues to be used and is now translated in English summaries of articles not as "sluggish" but as "slow progressive".[1]
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