On Dissidents and Madness

Robert van Voren (1959) became active as a human rights activist in 1977. In 1980 he co-founded the Global Initiative on Psychiatry-GIP (then called the International Association on the Political Use of Psychiatry) of which he is currently Chief Executive. GIP successfully campaigned to have the Soviets removed from the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) in 1983. In 1990-1991 GIP started to assist reform minded psychiatrists in the (former) USSR to humanize mental health care. Since then the organization has become active in forty countries in Central & Eastern Europe, the former USSR, Africa and South-East Asia. Robert van Voren was elected Honorary Fellow of the British Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1997, Honorary Member of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association in 2004 and was knighted in 2005 for his work as a human rights activist. In 2003 he was granted Lithuanian citizenship.

• Foreword By Leonidas DonskisIntroductionChapter 1: The Soviet Union on my mindChapter 2: The Soviet Union in 1980Chapter 3: The world of couriersChapter 4: Campaigning for dissidentsChapter 5: Demonstrating in PolandChapter 6: Playing “musical chairs” with the WPAChapter 7: The Soviet Union in 1985Chapter 8: Sleeping behind my deskChapter 9: Intermission, and back to workChapter 10: The gorillas of Sakharov Chapter 11: The mouse and the elephantChapter 12: Playing chess in AthensChapter 13: The Soviet Union in 1990Chapter 14: The doors are openedChapter 15: Ukraine on the mapChapter 16: The Romanian marshChapter 17: Change of course in BratislavaChapter 18: From black and white to shades of greyChapter 19: From humanitarian aid to structural aidChapter 20: Romance with the WPAChapter 21: New style abuseChapter 22: A successful failureChapter 23: Renewed struggle with the WPAChapter 24: Into prisonChapter 25: Becoming LithuanianChapter 26: Reforming against the windChapter 27: Looking back EpilogueHistorical DataIndex of Names

"Il s’agit d’un document exceptionnel, tant dans sa forme que son contenu, qui nous plonge dans l’histoire des abus politiques de la psychiatrie et dans l’histoire individuel de cet homme qui a décidé de consacrer sa vie à combattre ces abus malgré toutes les difficultés et toutes les déceptions. Un travail abyssal qui s’avère sans fin tel le tonneau des danaïdes." – in: Revue Européenne de Psychologie et de Droit, May 2012"Robert van Voren has written an unusual and deeply engaging book. (…) Remarkable, contrasting evolutions occur in the basic perceptions of individuals who come together from totally different worlds and, miraculously, interact. The resulting relationships can be both startling and moving. For all these reasons, van Voren’s book is hard to put down. I recommend it to students of human nature and international affairs - without reservation." – Peter Reddaway, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, George Washington University"The author of this book presents the picture that shows how in the broken empire, people accustomed to humility, fear and other attributes of slavery are learning to live in the space of freedom - freedom of responsibility, humanism and respect for human dignity. Robert van Voren personally participated in all these processes. He was so much involved in our situation and our problems that we seemed to forget that he was a foreigner." – Semyon Gluzman, former dissident and political prisoner"Robert van Voren is the rare revolutionary leader who can continue to provide leadership in the complexity of a post revolutionary period. He also possess a superb capacity to write about these events in a most interesting fashion. Many readers will be deeply interested in learning about these important accomplishments." – Dr. Melvin Sabshin, Medical Director of the American Psychiatric Association from 1974 to 1997 and an active participant in criticizing the abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union