"Our society is in a coma"

Few could make a diagnosis so clearly and concisely. Dmitry Travin - Memory of Dr. Shcheglov

Many years ago, we worked with Dr. Shcheglov at the same academy. I managed there the department of socio-economic disciplines, and he ... everyone knows that. It is unlikely that in St. Petersburg there is a person who is interested in the life of the city, but does not know about Dr. Shcheglov and his scientific specialization. And once we gathered on the open day to introduce the Academy to the applicants. The rector came out to them and said: “There are many serious specialists and serious departments here that we are proud of, but we and the Department of Sexology are not shy.” Naturally, you can joke in this way only when the authority of the department and its leader is at the highest level. In the case of Shcheglov, it was exactly so. I suspect that many did not come to study at the Academy, namely, to Leo Moiseevich Shcheglov, since he was a completely unique specialist. A strong scientist, an excellent lecturer and an experienced practitioner who can help people. And besides, a publicist who knows how to talk about sexology, and psychotherapy, and those issues that concern any person who is worried about his country.

Lev Moiseevich performed a lot at Echo of St. Petersburg in the “special opinion”, and there, of course, had to not only talk about the problems in which he specialized, but also respond to all kinds of relevant events.

Few could make a diagnosis of the country as clearly and concisely as Dr. Shcheglov.

“Our society is in an artificial coma,” he said two months ago. - Biologically it is alive, but in a social sense is unconscious. Physiological processes are underway. Blood flows, urine goes, lymph exists, and consciousness and adequate response to events, not to mention the highest functions of doubt, critical thinking, are disabled. When the layman encounters such a terrifying fact as bringing to suicide ( *we are talking about the death of Irina Slavina. - *d. ), The psyche is blocked: I do not want to think about it, I do not want to hear anything. <...> And someone in this situation also removes self-immolation on the telephone. Honor, conscience, mutual assistance, compassion disappeared somewhere. And this is the most important question for all mankind. ”

Despite such sad thoughts, Dr. Shcheglov was an optimist. He represented the modern world as the struggle of the past and its hellish traditions, its aspirations for bread and spectacles with the future and its need for freedom, for self -esteem. This struggle, however, is going on with varying success, and the future in many cases is defeated, since we have too many people from the past. Even young. Even those who formally keep up with the times.

The doctor cannot, alas, cure people who do not want to be treated, do not even want to seek help. And in this sense, Dr. Shcheglov, as a social thinker, had much less opportunities than Dr. Shcheglov, a specialist. But he directly spoke with society and explained the situation.

Another day on Echo, he was talking about Covid and the elementary norms of human behavior, who had not yet lost his honor, conscience and compassion. “Put on the mask when people really get around around. Here are elementary observations. In the first wave, several friends fell ill with me. In the second wave, twice as many ordinary acquaintances and three more close people fell ill. Speaking in such a situation that the virus is a myth means showing how much you do not understand anything. But

To think about not infecting someone is not characteristic of us. So we are arranged. ”

Yesterday I looked at the record of this performance by Lev Moiseevich on YouTube and saw how at the moment when the doctor of medical sciences said all this, records of our inhabitants with a blocked psyche appeared in the chat: “Again for muzzles”, “again wrap panic”.

Soon Dr. Shcheglov became infected. It is difficult to imagine how it happened, with all its amazing calm, sanity and a clear awareness of the scale of the epidemiological problem. One thing is clear: in a society where a significant mass of people lives with a blocked psyche, even the most responsible person is not safe. Lev Moiseevich was youthful, energetic, tightened, but he was already 74 years old. About people who are at this age, not only themselves, but also others should take care of. Someone, however, did not want to think about it. On December 11, 2020, Dr. Shcheglov was gone.

In the last hours, my whole Facebook tape speaks only about Leo Moiseevich. It is not enough to find figures in St. Petersburg comparable to it by meaning.