Psychiatry: Abused and Abusive
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: January 19, 2026, 19:00 – 21:00
Introduction of the book Systémově zneužitá a zneužívající československá psychiatrie v soft-sovětském stylu (1948–1989) by Miroslav Vodrážka. Using specific examples, the author shows not exceptional, but systematic abuse of psychiatry during communism. It included not only the abuse of medical expertise or the control of leading psychiatrists by the KGB, but mainly the objectivist psychiatric approach in which a patient was a “clinical case” rather than a citizen of a historical and social world.
The author Miroslav Vodrážka will be in discussion with the former Head Physician at the Bohnice Hospital, Zdeněk Bašný. The evening will be introduced by historian Petr Blažek and moderated by author Jáchym Topol.
The Václav Havel Library, in cooperation with the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ÚSTR) and the Twentieth Century Memorial Museum (Muzeum paměti XX. století).