When clichés about schizophrenia die hard

“I think Mr. Macron suffers from an alarming and dangerous schizophrenia”At an agricultural show in March, National Rally (RN) president Jordan Bardella denounced, while Gerald Darmanin described “schizophrenic”

Conduct of RN Deputies in Hemicycle in September. The term has entered the lexicon of French politicians, often cynically, contradicting the behavior of their peers.

Thomas, 27, was diagnosed with the disease when he was 15 years old. “When they complete 10 years of doctorate in medicine or psychiatry to diagnose people, you have to warn me,” He whispered, annoyed. “Crazy, He has nothing to do With the fact of multiple personalities coexisting!”

600,000 patients in France

The mass abuse is in the sights of World Schizophrenia Day, which takes place from March 16 to 23. Objective: To inform the general public about the complex reality of this pathology affecting 600,000 people in France, but especially to correct preconceived ideas about a little-known disorder whose symptoms, despite being more prevalent in the population, are poorly understood. French population

“Schizophrenia is a multifaceted illness, with a wide range of symptoms”, explains Hugo Baap, a psychiatrist at the Perigueux Hospital Center in Dordogne. The latter, which appears when the patient is between 15 and 25 years of age, can be classified into three groups: the so-called symptoms “positive”, including delusions, persecutory feelings, sensory hallucinations that can affect all the senses. Disorders also include symptoms “Negative”A decline in normal functioning (such as depression or apathy) and corresponding symptoms “Cognitive”Computation of Global Disorders of Health: Difficulties with memory, attention, or reasoning.

Especially the danger against himself

For Maximilian Durant, diagnosed at age 16, problems began in middle school. “insidious”. “I had intrapsychic hallucinations, with a voice in my head, rather male, telling me to hurt others or myself”He remembers the young man, now 30 years old. “I saw bloodstains, I heard people talking.” At that point, the depressed student faced a series of hospitalizations, before further follow-up with a psychiatrist and neuropsychologist. Maximilian, however, was afraid to admit his debilitating traits to these professionals, for fear that they would discover them. “Dangerous”. Stigma of the disease, such as confusing its symptoms with seizures “normal” Adolescence (loss of attention, concentration, lethargy) leads to a significant delay in establishing a diagnosis, underlines psychiatrist Hugo Baap. Four years after the first problems, Maximilian finally discovered that he was suffering from schizophrenia. “I was scared, I thought that one day I would lose control of the voice in my head, that I was dangerous, He admits. Little was explained to me about what pathology actually was.”

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Schizophrenia is often wrongly associated in the collective imagination with violence. “In the media, when we learn that a murderer suffers from a schizophrenic disorder, we immediately abbreviate this violence as an illness”, accused Hugo Father. Maximilian nodded. “When I was in university, a girl who knew about my illness stopped talking to me, fearing what I might do.”He points out, lamenting a “permanent stigma” sick people “In reality, sick people are no more dangerous than others,”

Hugo Bapp resumes. Only rare cases give rise to outbursts of violence during crises, and this aggression is mostly directed at the patient himself. One in two patients makes at least one suicide attempt during their lifetime. On the other hand, patients are more victims of violence from others, “Especially because they have trouble understanding human behavior.”The doctor continues.

Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

This imprecise connection between violence and schizophrenia inspires another equally persistent belief in the collective imagination: according to an Opinionway survey published in March 2018, four out of five French people still believe that split personality is a symptom of the illness. The very etymology of the word, which is, to patients, misleading. The word schizophrenia comes from the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. In 1911, he coined the word from the Greek “Schizo”, “separate”And “Fran”spirit “The idea of ​​a “split” mind, divided into different parts that do not respond to each other, leads people astray”, Thomas quips sarcastically. Many health professionals are also campaigning to change the terminology used to designate the disorder.

Although the disease can cause hallucinations, it does not actually cause personality changes. But this cliché has a tough skin, especially in cinema. “In my mind, people think it’s Fight Club.”

Thomas explains further. “For him, in my mind, there are many people living together, and one of them is necessarily violent.”

“We learn to compose»

Beliefs that are difficult to overcome make integration into society more difficult. “We easily fall into the clichés of mentally retarded patients.”Point Maximilian, “One whose intelligence is below average, whose speech is rarely heard.” Although schizophrenia may impair attention, memory, learning, or comprehension, it does not in any way impair the intellectual abilities of patients. The young man specifically remembers a visit to the emergency room a few years ago for kidney problems. “When I heard the nurses say “He’s schizophrenic!” I was crying in pain. As if that capital was important to my treatment. I was angry, I didn’t come for it.”He recalls, still angry, adding that since then, his words are no longer heeded by doctors.

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However, a large proportion of patients manage to recover due to proper care, along with neuroleptic treatment, psychotherapy and psychosocial support. A certain number of them have also chosen to commit to a better knowledge of this pathology. While Maximilian Durant runs a YouTube channel to reveal the secrets of his daily life as a patient, Tristan Mason volunteers at Perchy, which helps young adults living with a psychological disorder. “The disease does not disappear”it says, But we learn to live with it, to compose.”. Thomas continues and hints: “That is the important thing. Not to bear witness to schizophrenia, but to persevere in the idea that the recovery of a good life is possible in spite of everything.”