Project

Seven Dates

Psycho-neurological boarding houses in Russia are permanent residences for people with mental disabilities. Residents spend 15-20 years or more within the walls of these asylums, which are segregated based on gender.

According to official statistics from 2013, there were over 1,300 mental houses for adults in Russia and more than 150,000 people live there.

Residents in these institutions are deprived of a basic human need—the need for love (to love and be loved), which is especially important for people with mental illness since it directly impacts their emotional state.

Russian Boarding House: Elena

Elena and her son stay at the hospital before handing the child over to an orphanage. Elena would like to leave her son there until she finds a job.

Russian Boarding House: New Year's Party

The New Year's party organized for patients of the "female" psycho-neurological boarding house is receiving guests—patients from the "male" psycho-neurological boarding house.

Those Who Are Not Allowed to Love (Russian)

This web documentary sheds a human light on the limited rights of Russian citizens who permanently reside in the psycho-neurological boarding schools (PNIs), social institutions where adults and elderly people with mental disorders are kept.