[Memories of the "other" Germany between 1960 and 1985 - A difference between psychiatry and society?]

Abstract

It is unclear whether remembered psychiatry-related exchanges across the inner-German border differed from those in other societal areas. Were there differences in the confrontation with the "other" German state within vs outside psychiatry?Qualitative analysis of 20 guided cotemporary witness interviews (re 1960-1985) conducted in the Rhineland and Saxony.The former GDR interviewees outside psychiatry perceived the FRG as an important point of reference, other than reverse. East German psychiatrists were strongly oriented towards (specialist) FRG discourses. FRG psychiatrists appreciated social psychiatric reform initiatives in the GDR.Contemporary witness memories suggest differences in inner-German exchanges between the psychiatric field and other areas of society. This may be due to the shared professional-academic tradition within medicine.