The practice of psychiatry has come a long way since the Soviet era, according to Semyon Gluzman, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association.
"Soviet newspapers never wrote about psychiatry or psychiatric institutions," Gluzman says, adding that since Soviet citizens were presumed to be busy building communism, they couldn't be bothered with such existential problems.
Patients in psychiatric institutions once were deprived of the opportunity to enjoy a full life, said Tatyana Kasper, president of Kastalia, a charity working with psychiatric patients. Society couldn't offer anything to people with psychiatric problems, leaving them with their illness and a lonely existence, while their relatives despaired and society looked the other way."
Today, she said, psychiatry is no longer a shadow science, and Ukrainian psychiatrists are adopting more Western practices. They are experimenting with approaches to treatment that were unheard-of 20 years ago.
The rigid approaches dictated by the Soviet government have given way to more humanistic and spiritual treatment regimens, Kasper said. One such technique, art therapy, is yielding interesting results.
The theory behind art therapy is simple - to bring people into
a positive state of mind and free them from the troubles of ordinary life or show them a world of beauty and grace.
In theory, allowing patients to express themselves through art allows them to inspire and enlighten and heal themselves.
"Art therapy doesn't impose an external mechanical treatment on a person, like as medical treatment or a psychotherapist's suggestion does. It is oriented to inner health, and forces each person to see their potential," said Alexander Zhuravlyov, head of the center for affective disorders at Donetsk Psychiatric Hospital.
"Drawing therapy is an independent method of recovery and personality support, as well as a means of psychotherapeutic treatment for mental disorders," he said.
Behind the simplicity of the idea stands a scientific approach perfected in the west. Switzerland is among the most progressive countries with regard to the use of art therapy, through the Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry.
In Kyiv, art therapy is promoted through the Kastalia Foundation, a non-profit group. Therapy has resulted in the discovery of several talented artists, including Alexander Glumakov, Vladimir Horb, Bogdan Horbal, Michael Lipa, Alexander Nepop, Dmitriy Usovsky and Nikolay Yakovlev. These artists have been considered outsiders due to their mental illness.
Their art often exposes viewers to an entirely different and often impressive world. They don't paint to satisfy societal demands or esthetics, but to speak and be heard.
"Art is necessary for them. It gives a sense of fulfillment to their lives. Their beautiful work is without stereotypes. They are intuitive, sometimes hard-edged and merciless," said journalist Natalia Golubkova, after viewing Kastalia's Territory of Soul exhibition.
While contemporary artists seem to be trying to do crazy things, sanitarium patients tend to look for philosophical meaning, addressing existential issues like God, spirit, beauty and ugliness in the world. They give the lie to the popular belief that real genius must be slightly nuts, painting with sincerity regardlss of the level of sophistication. In exhibiting mental patients' work, The Kastalia Foundation is attempting to erase the borders that separate patients from the rest of society by exhibiting the art at its gallery on the grounds of Kyiv's Pavlov Psychiatric Clinic.
Artist Isabelle Kun-Shi was the first non-mental patient to be invited to exhibit her works at Kastalia`s gallery. The foundation wanted to bring more art into the institution and inspire the patients' own creativity.
Kastalia also plans to have patients' art displayed in Kyiv's galleries to make the art more accessible to the public.
"Kastalia's experience turns not to the future, which is necessary following past and present; it is the evidence of the future constantly appearing - here and now - thanks to peoples' creative work. This future defines its links with the present and past not by means of chronology, but a lively degree of creative effort," said Anna Zavarova, a professor at the Ukrainian Academy of Arts).
Art therapy in Ukraine has been advanced through the efforts of a number of organizations, including the Renaissance Foundation, Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry, TACIS, USAID, the United Nations Partnership for Development program, the Open Society Institute and the Transatlantic initiative.
"We are happy if one of our program's participants found the ability to fight loneliness, or developed an interest to life and art," said the Kastalia Foundation's Alexander Miklevich. "This is the essence of our work."
Roman Pyrih is a Kyiv freelance writer.
Kastaliya Gallery
Pavlov Psychiatric Clinic. 103a Frunze, Bldg. 4
Tel: (38 044) 410.37.39, 468.13.34
e-mail: kappa@alfacom.net
On the Web: http://upa-psychiatry.org.ua/galery/galery.html
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