Anatoly Koryagin Explained
Anatoly Ivanovich Koryagin (Russian: Анато́лий Ива́нович Коря́гин, born 15 September 1938, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk Krai[1]) is a psychiatrist[2] and Soviet dissident. He holds a Candidate of Science degree (equivalent to PhD in the West).[3] Along with others, he exposed political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union.[4] He pointed out Russia constructed psychiatric prisons to punish dissidents.[5]
Early career
Koryagin was born on 15 September 1938 in Kansk (Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia).[1] [6] After graduating from the Krasnoyarsk Medical Institute in 1963, Koryagin worked for 4 years as a psychiatrist in Abakan. In 1972 he successfully defended his doctoral thesis on apathetic aspects of schizophrenia, and in the same year he became deputy head doctor of the regional psychiatric hospital in Kyzyl. In 1978 he became a consultant at the Kharkiv regional psychiatric clinic.[7]
Struggle against political abuse of psychiatry and trial
See main article: Working Commission to Investigate the Use of Psychiatry for Political Purposes and Struggle against political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union. Koryagin served as chief psychiatrist to the underground Commission to Investigate the Use of Psychiatry for Political Purposes, which was formed in 1977. He and another psychiatrist examined 55 dissidents who had been released or were going to be involuntarily confined. They concluded that there was no medical justification for the confinement of these people, and then campaigned for the release of dissidents held in psychiatric facilities.[8]
Koryagin was arrested in February 1981.[9] In June that year he was sentenced to 7 years of hard labor, to be followed by 5 years of internal exile. The charge was anti-Soviet activities for having corresponded with the British medical journal The Lancet, which published an article by Koryagin critical of the Soviet government's use of involuntary psychiatric confinement for political reasons.[10] [11] Koryagin was stripped of Soviet citizenship after publishing his article in which he accused the Soviets of interning sane people to psychiatric hospitals.[12] Koryagin documented the existence of 16 special hospitals for dissidents and 183 political prisoners that were confined in them.[9] The transcripts of his trial, which were published by Amnesty International in 1982, record the following statement he made:[11] [13] [14]
On 5 April 1981, the Moscow Helsinki Group members Yelena Bonner, Sofiya Kalistratova, Ivan Kovalyov, Naum Meiman issued document No. 162 "The Arrest of Anatoly Koryagin" which stated,[15] [16]
Detention, recognition and later life
While held in the Chistopol prison, Koryagin often went on hunger strike, and as a result he was forcibly fed and also drugged with antipsychotic medications.[3] [9] He was beaten in a punishment cell.[17] [18] [19] He made notes that contained the description of his imprisonment and were translated into English by Freedom House in New York City.[20] According to Koryagin, Khasanov, head of the section where he was imprisoned, told him, "You'll die like a dog here."[21] Koryagin managed to smuggle a letter to the West documenting his ordeal. The General Assembly of the World Psychiatric Association passed a resolution making Dr. Anatoly Koryagin an honorary individual member of the World Psychiatric Association for "demonstrating in the struggle against the perversion of psychiatry for nonmedical purposes, professional conscience, courage and devotion to duty, all in exceptional measure".[22] The American Psychiatric Association elected him an honorary member while he was still imprisoned, and the Royal College of Psychiatry, which elected him a Fellow, addressed a letter to Yuri Andropov requesting his release.[11] In 1983, the American Association for the Advancement of Science bestowed him with the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award.[1] [23] [24] [25]
Koryagin was eventually released on 19 February 1987 and emigrated to Switzerland on 24 April 1987.[26] Although he had been offered asylum in Switzerland, he initially refused because one of his sons had just been arrested,[27] but finally emigrated to Switzerland with his entire family later that year after his son's release.[9] [28]
During the Glasnost period, he remained a vocal critic of the Soviet psychiatric system,[29] and a harsh critic of torture.[30]
In 1987, Koryagin and his participation in struggle against political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union became the subject of Robert van Voren's book Koryagin: A Man Struggling for Human Dignity.[1]
In 1988, Koryagin sent the letter of appreciation for having been honoured with Fellowship in the Royal College of Psychiatrists to its President James Birley.[31]
In 1990, Psychiatric Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists published the article Compulsion in psychiatry: blessing or curse? by Anatoly Koryagin.[32] It contains eight arguments by which the existence of a system of political abuse of psychiatry in the U.S.S.R. can easily be demonstrated and analysis of the abuse of psychiatry.[32]
In 1995 Koryagin returned to Russia and lived in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.[6] Now he lives in Switzerland.[33]
Further reading
- Book: Voren, Robert van. Koryagin: a man struggling for human dignity. 1987. Second World Press. Amsterdam. 90-71271-07-2.
- How Soviet psychiatrists serve the state. New Scientist. 16 April 1981. 90. 1249. 142.
- Low-Beer, Gerald. Anatoly Koryagin. The Lancet. 27 June 1981. 317. 8235. 1426. 6113385. 10.1016/S0140-6736(81)92607-6. 21917680.
- Wynn, Alan. Anatoly Koryagin. The Lancet. 11 December 1982. 320. 8311. 1349. 6128637. 10.1016/S0140-6736(82)91559-8. 43749170.
- Reddaway, Peter. Anatoly Koryagin. The Lancet. 25 December 1982. 320. 8313. 1467. 6129543. 10.1016/S0140-6736(82)91372-1. 32249580.
- Wynn, Alan. Imprisonment of Dr. Anatoly Koryagin. British Medical Journal. 22 January 1983. 286. 6361. 309. 6402080. 1546518. 10.1136/bmj.286.6361.309-a.
- Wynn, Alan. Dr Anatoly Koryagin sent to Chistopol Prison. Medical Journal of Australia. 5 February 1983. 1. 7. 307. 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1983.tb136103.x.
- Reddaway, Peter. The attack on Anatoly Koryagin. The New York Review of Books. 3 March 1983. 30. 3. 39.
- White, Sarah. Dissident psychiatrists locked up a second time. New Scientist. 7 July 1983. 99. 1365. 6. 11655540.
- Wynn, Alan. Anatoly Koryagin. The Lancet. 7 January 1984. 323. 8367. 50. 6140373. 10.1016/S0140-6736(84)90213-7. 5415562.
- Mackenzie, Fiona. Dr Koryagin. The Spectator. 3 March 1984. 17.
- Koryagin, Galina. The Koryagin family. The Spectator. 31 August 1984. 9–11. https://web.archive.org/web/20151217153808/http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/1st-september-1984/10/the-koryagin-family. 17 December 2015 . live.
- Anatoly Koryagin. The Spectator. 3 November 1984. 20.
- Clare, Anthony . Rawnsley, Kenneth . Roth, Martin . Dr Anatoly Koryagin. Psychiatric Bulletin. 1 April 1985. 9. 4. 80. 10.1192/pb.9.4.80-a.
- Reddaway, Peter. The Case of Dr. Koryagin. The New York Review of Books. 10 October 1985. 32 . 15 .
- Miles, Steven. The fate of Anatoly Koryagin. The New England Journal of Medicine. 19 December 1985. 313. 25. 1605–1606. 3906397. 10.1056/NEJM198512193132510.
- Mendelson, George. Dr Anatoly Koryagin. Medical Journal of Australia. 17 March 1986. 144. 6. 285–286. 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1986.tb128374.x. 3520263. 204073963.
- Koryagin urges continued efforts against psychiatric abuse. Report on Science and Human Rights. AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. IX. 2. 1–2. Summer 1987. https://web.archive.org/web/20151218053854/http://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/migrate/uploads/1987-Vol.-9-Issue-2.pdf. 18 December 2015. live.
- Holden, Constance. Koryagin skeptical on glasnost. Science. 23 October 1987. 238. 4826. 476. 1700518. 1987Sci...238..476H. 17809609. 10.1126/science.238.4826.476.
- Szasz, Thomas. Koryagin and psychiatric coercion. The Lancet. 3 September 1988. 332. 8610. 2900959. 573. 10.1016/S0140-6736(88)92700-6. 5176787.
- Web site: Karasik S. . Koryagin, Anatoly Ivanovych (Biography). Dissident movement in Ukraine: Virtual Museum . 1 July 2015.
- Web site: Lymanov K . Working committee against psychiatric abuse for political purposes . Dissident movement in Ukraine: Virtual Museum . 4 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100602211913/http://khpg.org/archive/en/index.php?id=1163095970 . 2 June 2010 . dead.
- Web site: Боннэр Е. . Каллистратова С. . Ковалев И. . Мейман Н. . 5 April 1981 . Документ № 162: Арест Анатолия Корягина . Московская Хельсинкская группа . 15 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100602200940/http://www.mhg.ru/history/228566C . 2 June 2010 . dead.
- Web site: Боннэр Е. . Каллистратова С. . Ковалев И. . Мейман Н. . 9 August 1981 . Документ № 178: Суд над Анатолием Корягиным . Московская Хельсинкская группа . 15 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100602201040/http://www.mhg.ru/history/2289822 . 2 June 2010 . dead.
- Book: Voren, Robert. On dissidents and madness: from the Soviet Union of Leonid Brezhnev to the "Soviet Union" of Vladimir Putin. Rodopi . Amsterdam—New York . 2009 . 978-90-420-2585-1 . 296.
Some papers and interviews
- Koryagin, Anatoly. Unwilling patients. The Lancet. 317. 8224. 821–824. 11 April 1981. 6111681. 10.1016/S0140-6736(81)92691-X. 29557161.
- Koryagin, Anatoly. World psychiatry: readmitting the Soviet Union. The Lancet. 30 July 1988. 332. 8605. 268–269. 11644351. 10.1016/S0140-6736(88)92549-4. 12818215.
- Koryagin, Anatoly. Toward truly outlawing torture. Science. 241. 4871. 1277–1278. 9 September 1988. 3137659. 1702074. 1988Sci...241.1277K. 10.1126/science.241.4871.1277.a.
- Koryagin, Anatoly. The involvement of Soviet psychiatry in the persecution of dissenters. The British Journal of Psychiatry. March 1989. 154. 3. 336–340. 2597834. 10.1192/bjp.154.3.336. 26148412 .
- Koryagin, Anatoliy. Compulsion in psychiatry: blessing or curse?. Psychiatric Bulletin. 1 July 1990. 14. 7. 394–398. 10.1192/pb.14.7.394. free.
- Book: Urban, George. Social and economic rights in the Soviet bloc: a documentary review seventy years after the Bolshevik Revolution. 1988. Transaction Publishers. 1412834198. 43–46. https://books.google.com/books?id=Xcreg7M7k4UC&pg=PA43. Doctor for all seasons: a conversation with Dr Anatoly Koryagin soon after his release from detention; Bern, May 1987.
Notes and References
- Book: Voren, Robert van. Koryagin: a man struggling for human dignity. 1987. Second World Press. Amsterdam. 90-71271-07-2.
- Gershman, Carl. Psychiatric abuse in the Soviet Union. Society. July–August 1984. 21. 5. 54–59. 10.1007/BF02695434. 11615169. 7447915.
- An appeal for Dr Anatoly Koryagin to the medical profession. Psychiatric Bulletin. 9. 12. 244. 1 December 1985. 10.1192/pb.9.12.244.
- Corillon, Carol. The role of science and scientists in human rights. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. November 1989. 506. 1. 129–140. 1046660. 10.1177/0002716289506001012. 145803216.
- News: Beck, Julie. 'Do no harm': when doctors torture. The Atlantic. 12 December 2014.
- Web site: Karasik S. . Koryagin, Anatoly Ivanovych (Biography). Dissident movement in Ukraine: Virtual Museum . 1 July 2015.
- Geraty, Ronald. Risking martyrdom for Sabbathkeeping adventists. Spectrum. 19. 2. 49–52. November 1988. https://web.archive.org/web/20150921154323/http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/Spectrum/1988_Vol_19/2_November_1988.pdf. 21 September 2015. live.
- Nightingale, Elena . Stover, Eric . Call for Koryagin's Release . Science. 230. 4723. 237–238. 18 October 1985. 3863252. 10.1126/science.3863252. 1695338. 1985Sci...230..237N .
- Soviet psychiatrist describes abuse . . 131 . 21 . 328 . 23 May 1987 .
- Koryagin, Anatoly. Unwilling patients. The Lancet. 317. 8224. 821–824. 11 April 1981. 6111681. 10.1016/S0140-6736(81)92691-X. 29557161.
- Wynn, Alan. Imprisonment of Dr. Anatoly Koryagin . British Medical Journal. 286. 6361. 309. 22 January 1983. 6402080. 1546518. 10.1136/bmj.286.6361.309-a.
- News: Poor food, large doses of medication: grim hospital treatment for Soviet dissidents told. Los Angeles Times. 22 October 1987.
- Book: Bloch, Sidney . Reddaway, Peter . Soviet psychiatric abuse: the shadow over world psychiatry. 1985. Westview Press. 0-8133-0209-9. 109.
- Winslow, Richard. No asylum: state psychiatric repression in the former U.S.S.R. Psychiatric Services. October 1998. 49. 10. 1372–1373. 10.1176/ps.49.10.1372-a.
- Web site: Bonner, Yelena . Kalistratova, Sofiya . Kovalyov, Ivan . Meiman, Naum . 5 April 1981 . Документ № 162: Арест Анатолия Корягина . Document Nr 162. The Arrest of Anatoly Koryagin . . ru . https://web.archive.org/web/20100602200940/http://www.mhg.ru/history/228566C . 2 June 2010 . dead . 15 June 2010.
- The trial of Koryagin . . 1982 . 62 . 19–26 . Amnesty International Publications .
- Book: Shcharansky, Anatoly. Fear no evil. 1988. Random House. 0394558782. 354. registration.
- Lewis, Anthony. Abroad at home; a question of confidence. The New York Times. 19 September 1985.
- News: Lewis, Anthony. Soviet crackdown on dissidents shows paranoia, not confidence. 14. Spokane Chronicle. 20 September 1985.
- News: Koryagin describes prison conditions in smuggled notes. The Ukrainian Weekly. LV. 5. 1 February 1987. 1–2.
- Satter, David. A test case. The New York Review of Books. 12 February 1987. 34 . 2 .
- Book: Abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union: hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, first session, September 20, 1983 . U.S. Government Printing Office . Washington . 1984 . 106.
- Scientific freedom and responsibility and science journalism awards. Science. 220. 4601. 1037. 3 June 1983. 17754544 . 10.1126/science.220.4601.1037. 1690812. 1983Sci...220Q1037.. free.
- Mendelson, George. Dr Anatoly Koryagin. Medical Journal of Australia. 17 March 1986. 144. 6. 285–286. 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1986.tb128374.x. 3520263. 204073963.
- Web site: 1983 . Anatolyi Koryagin: AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, 1983. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 6 June 2010.
- News: USSR dissident and his family leave Russia. The Toledo Blade. 24 April 1987.
- News: Keller, Bill. Soviet study of abuse of psychiatry is urged. 17 March 1987. The New York Times.
- News: Dissident Koryagin's son, 19, released from labor camp. 26 March 1987. 2. Los Angeles Times.
- Appleby, Louis. Anatoly Koryagin: what next on Soviet psychiatric abuse? . . 295 . 6607 . 1164. 7 November 1987. 3120927. 1248242. 10.1136/bmj.295.6607.1164 .
- Koryagin, Anatoly. Toward truly outlawing torture. Science. 241. 4871. 1277–1278. 9 September 1988. 3137659. 1702074. 1988Sci...241.1277K. 10.1126/science.241.4871.1277.a.
- Koryagin, Anatoly. Letter to the President from Anatoly Koryagin. Psychiatric Bulletin. 1 January 1988. 12. 1. 32. 10.1192/pb.12.1.32. free.
- Koryagin, Anatoly. Compulsion in psychiatry: blessing or curse?. Psychiatric Bulletin. 14. 7. 394–398. 1 July 1990. 10.1192/pb.14.7.394. free.
- Hartmann, Lorence. Koryagin, suspicious of glasnost, recounts ongoing Soviet abuses. Psychiatric Times. Vol 32 No 9 . 28 September 2015. 32 . 9 .