PTSD in the Soviet Union

 

Dr.  Ruwan M . Jayatunge’s   PTSD in the USSR” amazes the reader primarily with its original design. The author, step by step, reveals the underlying psychological causes of the destructiveness of the perennial Soviet dictatorship. This is a trauma for huge masses of people conducted by the leaders of the Soviet state of a terrible social experiment, the consequences of which are palpable today.  

Post-traumatic stress disorders are usually studied at the individual level. Works on collective injury sustained over many decades by residents of a huge and influential country  is virtually absent today. Therefore, the scientific novelty of the research, as well as its practical significance, are very high. It is difficult for Western Europe, the USA and other countries to understand the hypocritical and dangerous policies of today's Russian Federation without knowing the long-term consequences of the total and multi-stage traumatization of the inhabitants of the Soviet Union. 

The materials analyzed in the book will be useful not only to psychologists and psychiatrists, but also to political scientists, historians, sociologists, philosophers, as well as current politicians, deputies, heads of international organizations, journalists, etc.  The influence of mental deviations of a leader on leadership style, decision-making methods, ways to achieve goals is difficult to overestimate. Especially when it comes to the first persons of the state, on whom the fate and lives of millions of their contemporaries depend.        

Dr  Ruwan M . Jayatunge manages to examine the  premises of the Soviet dictatorship, beginning in the 18th century, with the reign of Peter the Great. A wide historical panorama, a successful comparison of numerous cultural, social, economic, and psychological contexts, a deep knowledge of the classics of Russian literature - all this awakens and supports the reader’s interest in the problem.  Particular attention is drawn to chapters devoted to such sinister personalities as V.I. Lenin, F.E. Dzerzhinsky, I.V. Stalin, L.M. Kaganovich, L.P. Beria. The reader is offered a concise, balanced and accurate analysis of their role in the increase in post-traumatic stress disorders in the vast majority of the population.  

I would like to wish the author to turn to the newest history of post-Soviet Russia in the new edition of the book, to show the causes and consequences of Vladimir Putin’s many years of rule, with the blessing of which many wars are waged, international terrorism is being aggravated, territories of other states are being annexed, and latent interference in referendums and elections is becoming more active conducted in other countries.

Professor Tatyana Titarenko  

Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine  

Head of the Laboratory of Social Psychology of the Person Institute of Social and Political Psychology