Paul Goble
Staunton, July 12 – A significant share of Russian veterans returning from Ukraine are suffering PTSD and committing crimes, but Moscow is failing to treat them effectively less because of a shortage of experts than because the values the Kremlin insists those who treat them follow make it impossible for them to do their jobs, five psychologists say.
Radio Liberty journalist Denis Nesterov spoke with five of them and they were unanimous in saying this represents a serious and growing threat to Russian society as a whole, a point Duma deputies like Nina Ostanina have also made (svoboda.org/a/bessilie-psihologov-pochemu-trudno-pomochj-vernuvshimsya-s-voyny/33030624.html).
In Russia today, these psychologists says, “it is almost impossible to reduce the level of trauma” such veterans have suffered and “make them safe for society.” Instead and precisely because of the values the Kremlin insists psychologists reflect, the problems these veterans face are intensifying and manifesting themselves in violence.
According to the five, psychologists can achieve success only if they are able to guide those suffering from PTSD to see themselves as victims and then help them assume responsibility for the future. But the Putin regime rejects any notion that they are victims and does not want them to develop a sense of personal responsibility.
And what is worse, the share of psychologists who are prepared to adopt that strategy is small. Those who do are at risk of being fired or otherwise punished. Most Russian psychologists go along with what the powers that be demand and thus fail to help their patients overcome the results of PTSD.
Indeed, these government psychologists are so gungho that many veterans who might otherwise seek treatment do not get it at all because they fear that if they do go to such psychologists, the latter will seek not to help them to overcome their problems and adapt to civilian life but try to force them to return to fight in Ukraine.
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