Georgia needs help to get better

[Kshasty]

Georgia's privately owned Imedi television station caused a nationwide panic with its mock news report.

The report had to do with an alleged Russian "invasion," the "assassination" of President Mikheil Saakashvili and the coming to power of "pro-Moscow forces" headed by opposition leaders Nino Burdzhanadze and Zurab Nogaideli.

It appears that all aspects of this shocking episode have already been discussed. President Saakashvili and his spokesperson, the opposition, Russian politicians, Abkhazian and South Ossetian officials have all made their statements.

Nevertheless, a distinct feeling of unreality persists. To understand it, let's try to imagine how this episode would have played in Russia. Let's say a Russian television channel shows a news story about an invasion by either the whole of NATO or China. How would most people react to the news? They would switch channels, watch a beer commercial and feel quite unperturbed.

People would ask themselves what kind of idiot it would take to finance an extremely costly invasion of Russia and its subsequent occupation. Such a military operation seems pointless because no benefit would justify the expenses incurred, even if the nuclear factor is overlooked.

Can a hypothetical invasion be mounted in order to control Russia's natural resources or transport routes linking Europe with Asia? All these far-fetched scenarios were extremely popular in the 1990s. Later Russian analysts realized that 19th century realities should not be applied to the current situation. Horror-story fans occupied a befitting place on the sidelines of politics and journalism.

At any rate, not a single person in Moscow would rush out to buy food, take out cash from an ATM or stage a protest in front of the Ostankino TV center. Most people would say the producers are morons and forget the hoax broadcast in three seconds. This is the only difference between a relatively normal society and the one currently existing in Georgia.

We say "relatively" because each person has his or her own psychiatric diagnosis. Any doctor will tell you that there are no absolutely healthy people. The same can be said about nations.

Think back to Russian developments of the 1990s. According to psychiatrists, an unimaginable number of people requiring medical attention and even hospitalization walked the streets of Moscow. This became clear to any medical professional because of the way they spoke, the look in their eyes and their speech. The doctors said there was nothing like it anywhere in the world.

Manic-depressive psychoses seemed to be the least serious mental disorder diagnosed by them. The human psyche was absolutely unable to cope with the radical changes of the time.

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100315/158205647.html