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This article traces the history of psychoanalytically-oriented mental health care in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Like many other places in Central and Eastern Europe, psychoanalysis in post-war Yugoslavia faced a host of barriers to its long term survival. Rather than retreating or dying out, psychoanalytic ideas came to greatly influence Yugoslav psychiatry, both by informing treatment modalities and by providing a theoretical framework for understanding mental illness. The article outlines exactly how this transformation came to pass by documenting the threats posed to psychoanalysis and then analysing how these challenges were overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of Communist rule in Yugoslavia (1945–91), few problems attracted as much psychiatric attention as alcoholism. Conducting widespread epidemiological research, practitioners discovered an alarming trend as rates of the disease were seemingly rising in every territory and segment of the population. Such an upswing of problem drinking seemed to threaten the ideological, economical, and social well-being of the state and its citizens. This widespread panic spurred psychiatric investigations into the aetiology of alcoholism. Much of this work focused on the role of the family, the workplace, class and societal changes as the genesis of problem drinking. Ultimately, these researchers concluded that alcoholism was not merely an affliction of the individual but rather a social disease with cause and consequence extending far beyond the problem drinker. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]