Joseph Stalin As Paranoid Schizophrenic in Therapy Term Paper

Joseph Stalin

It is difficult to count how many millions of deaths Joseph Stalin was responsible for, but the fact that this figure is in the millions is not in doubt (Cavendish, 2003). Up until the twilight of his life, when he was in his seventies and approaching his own death, his subordinates continued to carry out his murderous orders.

Stalin was paranoid and in his later years he suffered from arteriosclerosis. There is a theory that this may have aggravated his temper, which became worse as he grew older. His doctor, Vladimir Vinogradov, noticed a significant decline in Stalin's health early in 1952. When he suggested that the dictator start to relax, the patient flew into a furious rage and had him arrested.

Several other doctors were arrested in 1952 (Cavendish, 2003). Some of them were Jewish and newspaper tirades against "murderers in white gowns" provoked widespread rumors about a medical conspiracy. There were whispers of babies killed in maternity wards and patients being killed with poisoned medicines. In January 1953, the Tass press agency reported the arrest of nine members of 'a criminal group of murderous doctors, accused of killing prominent Soviet figures. Six of the nine were Jews. More doctors were arrested and although many of them were not Jewish, there was an outbreak of anti-Semitism and Jews were hassled in the streets. During this time, Stalin was considering a plan to deport all Soviet Jews to Siberia.

Stalin was driven by one overpowering fear; future attack of his western border. His collection of Eastern European states served as a barrier and became known as the Iron Curtain (Hyde, 1971). This isolationist behavior and expansion of Communist control are believed by most, to have started the Cold War. Stalin displaced about 1.5 million non-Russian occupants of the new Soviet republics. Most were Muslims labeled as Nazi sympathizers and, as a result, were a direct threat to the Soviet Union.Many perceived minorities from the Crimea, Caucasus, Bulgaria, Armenia and so on, were gathered and hauled off to Siberia. The official justifications for these deportations were alleged collaboration with their former Nazi oppressors and resistance to Soviet control.

Stalin's late years were spent in increasing paranoia and poor health. It is apparent that he was gearing up for another elimination of the leading citizen classes of the Soviet Union (Raack, 1995). In January 1953, he ordered the arrest of many Moscow doctors, mainly Jews, charging them with medical assassinations. What may have been another massacre was avoided by Stalin's sudden and strange death on March 5, 1953. After his death and the end of his reign of terror, Stalin's name and regime were widely criticized by the Soviet authorities and citizens. He is remembered as a terrorist against his own people and the cause of countless human rights crimes.

Supporters of Stalin believe he saved his country from certain European domination; that the lives lost and ruined were necessary casualties for the greater good of the nation. Others say that he was a paranoid schizophrenic that belonged in a mental institution, rather than in a position of power. Stalin showed mercy to no one, he evil incarnate, killing innocent Russians and severely damaging any possible of future progress for Russia. In this light, it appears that the latter theory is true.

D. Jablow Hershman and Julian Lieb (1994), in "A Brotherhood of Tyrants: Manic Depression and Absolute Power," revealed several case files on paranoid schizophrenics, including Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The "case files" read like a clinician's worst nightmare: "raging tempers, manic highs, grandiose and psychotic delusions, paranoia, extravagantly reckless behavior, gloomy depression, and contemptuous disregard for others - and this was when they were just kids." If Hitler and Stalin were born at slightly different times and circumstances, they would have been hospitalized and never heard from again, but.....