mental health

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Former head psychiatrist Aghahasan Rasulov. Photo: Report.az

Top Baku psychiatrist dismissed after declaring teenager ‘not mentally ill’

•2 min read

The head doctor of Baku’s main psychiatric hospital has been dismissed from his post, after defending a teenager who had been labelled mentally ill for posting a video of poor conditions in an orphanage. On Wednesday, Aghahasan Rasulov, the chief doctor of Baku’s Republic Psychiatric Hospital No. 1, was dismissed from his post by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Health, reportedly on grounds of age. Orkhan Jafarov, formerly the general director of the Republic Centre of Narcology, was appointed in hi

Gulnara Mehdiyeva. Photo: Sabina Abubakirova/OC Media.

Azerbaijan

Leak targets prominent Azerbaijani feminist in run-up to Women’s Day

by Hamida Giyasbayli

•2 min read

The private Facebook conversations of a prominent Azerbaijani women’s rights activist have been published online less than two weeks before International Women’s Day. Recordings of conversations between Gulnara Mehdiyeva and a friend were first published on a Facebook page with over 60,000 followers. In a 7-minute video report on the page, private voice messages sent by Mehdiyeva detail her distress over an abusive relationship. Mehdiyeva speaks of having an emotional breakdown and accompany

Children's Rights

Voice | ‘Every afternoon I came home from school broken’

by Veronica Tonyan

•5 min read

Narek, 29, from Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, describes how he was tormented at school, while teachers often protected the abusers. ‘In fifth grade, a maths teacher began being unnecessarily hostile towards me. In almost every lesson she gave me the lowest marks. As a result, I failed the year badly. I still hate maths.’ ‘I repeated the year but was forced to move to another class.’ ‘Some tough guys there took an immediate dislike to me. No matter what I did, no matter

Ivane Bokeria Referral Hospital, one of the institutions studied by the Public Defender . Photo via Ivane Bokeria Referral Hospital Facebook page.

Georgia

Giving birth in a toilet: New report criticises Georgia’s psychiatric facilities

by OC Media

•3 min read

A special report from Georgia’s Public Defender states that psychiatric facilities across the country fail women patients through a litany of mispractices including, but not limited to, prescribing outdated or improper medication, a lack of testing, and providing inadequate security from sexual violence. The Public Defender’s Office studied 12 psychiatric in-patient healthcare institutions, three boarding houses for adults with disabilities, and six community-based organisations. The report,

Armenia

‘I lived in hell’: life in a psychiatric hospital in Armenia

by Armine Avetisyan

•6 min read

A recent report by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia suggested that instead of receiving the help they need, patients with psychiatric illnesses were often met with poor conditions and human rights violations in Armenia’s psychiatric institutions. ‘I lived in hell for one year. True, they didn’t beat me, they didn’t commit physical violence against me, but my soul was always in pain; I was psychologically tortured.’ Gayane (not her real name) spent a year as a patient in one of Armenia

Azerbaijan

25-year-old ‘with mental illness’ killed in ‘exorcism’ in Azerbaijan

by OC Media

•2 min read

A 25-year-old man who reportedly suffered from mental illness was found dead in the northeastern Azerbaijani city of Shabran on Saturday, after an apparent ‘exorcism’ attempt. The Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan reported on Monday that Murad Soltanov, a resident of Baku, was discovered in a flat with multiple bodily injuries. Pictures circulating online showed Soltanov’s body covered in bruises. Police have opened an investigation for inflicting fatal injuries and using forbidden treatm