MENTAL ILLNESS RISING IN RUSSIA.

Over the last decade,the number of mentally ill in Russia who qualify for the statusof invalid has risen to 699,000, Sovetskaya Chuvashiya reportedJune 29. The number of mentally ill people who commit crimes inRussia has risen 60% in the last five years, and the percentageof military draftees suffering from some form of mental illnessnow stands at 42.8%, the paper said. It suggested that these increasesreflected rising stress in Russian life and called for the expansionof the country’s psychiatric support system.