Conclusion

Through a philosophical overview of human functioning and of the different currents of psychiatry in the second half of the twentieth century – in particular with the discovery of neuroleptics – the author underscores the dichotomy between monism and dualism (the interaction between brain and mind in the conscious states). Moreover, she goes on to stress the difficulty in choosing between the two functions, and to definitively distinguish between the specific actions of drugs and psychotherapy on the human psyche. In the end, the author concludes that it is not necessary to answer these over-riding questions related to the “mind-body problem” in order to properly treat individuals suffering from mental disorders.     

Pierre Schützenberger (1888–1973) : un aliéniste,expert dans l’affaire des sœurs Papin (Partie I)

In Le Mans on 2 February 1933: Christine and Lea Papin murdered savagely their patroness Mrs Léonie Lancelin and her daughter, Geneviève, at their home. A trial that excited the whole of France and defrayed the chronicle. Pierre Schützenberger (1888–1973) was the head doctor at the mental asylum of Le Mans. The day after the crime, he was appointed as psychiatric expert. As a few weeks later, he shall be assisted in this task by Victor Truelle (1871–1938) and Jacques Baruk (1872–1975). Every two was alienists. The first was a head doctor at Sainte-Anne hospital in Paris and the second at Saint-Gemmes-sur-Loire asylum near Anger. The experts took the clear position of the absolute responsability of the defendants. A correspondence between Schützenberger and the psychiatrist Louis Le Guillant (1900–1968) allows us, on the one hand, to go behind the scenes of this expertise, which was vigorously challenged during and after the trial and, on the other hand, to situate it in the context of the 1930s. There was not a possible psychological analysis for P. Schützenberger in this case. As illustrated his non-published conference on freudism that was held on 9th March 1933. When reading one of this we note that he was very sceptical by the introduction of Psychoanalysis, which appeared to him to be a backward step compared with the French Somatical School's use of biological notions in Psychopathology.     

Les idées fixes et la psychologie de l'action de Pierre Janet

Janet's conception of the psychic trauma and the formation of emotional complexes (fixed ideas) was discussed. This conception of the psychic trauma and of the fixed ideas is the basis for Janet's nosology of neurotic disorders. The neuroses are understood as ”functional” disorders because of their functional pathogenesis. A stratified hierarchy of functions is explicated by Janet's psychology of action and by a hierarchy of nine different psychic tendencies. The impact of ”psychic tension” and ”psychic force” for the formation of and for the effects of the psychic tendencies is shown. The effect of changes in the hierarchy of the psychic tendencies on the pathogenesis of mental disorders is explicated.     

CFTMEA 2000 : nouvelle version de la Classification française des troubles mentaux de l’enfant et de l’adolescent

The CFTMEA 2000 is the fourth version of the french classification. The authors did not change the principles or the uses of the previous version, but introduced various changes in axis I, as well as equivalencies with the ICD-10; an axis I appears for babies (0-3 years). The axis II categories remain inchanged for somatic factors as well as environmental ones.     

Patients souffrant de schizophrénie en EHPAD : quel rôle pour l’équipe de psychiatrie de secteur ?

Old people's homes take in elderly persons who present more and more organic and/or psychic pathologies as they grow older. But what is the care proposed for residents suffering from psychiatric chronic pathologies such as schizophrenia and living in these establishments for several years? What are the difficulties met in these establishments (except the problem of psychiatric treatment and its effects) and which solutions can be envisaged? What will then be the role for a regional psychiatric team?     

Les nouvelles articulations entre l’école,les structures médicosociales et les secteurs de psychiatrie infantojuvénile induites par la loi du 11 février 2005. (Communication au colloque de la SFPEADA du 11 décembre 2009)

About the multimodal approach of care, pedagogy and education for a case of autistic child, the author proposes a reflection on the modifications of practices led by the law of February 11th, 2005. The discussion argues the differences between the approach in terms of space and time of the care and the administrative logic. In conclusion, the reflection is widened on the place which takes the law of 2005 in a set of regulatory measures aiming at the reform of the health system and in the mastery of the costs.     

Jakob Lenz ou la folie à l’opéra

Scenes of madness were common in XIXth century operas. Most of the time they were involving love hindered women, who become mad victims of family or social conflicts. A contemporary opera, “Jakob Lenz” has a different approach of the problem as it is based upon a real case of schizophrenia. The German poet, Jakob Lenz (1751-1792), who had been a prominent figure of the so called Sturm und Drang movement and a close friend of Goethe, happened to be slowly engulfed by insanity. The opera, whose composer is Wolfgang Rihm, depicts Lenz’s attempt to overcome his madness in a small village of the Vosges mountains, helped bya then famous protestant minister, Jean-Frederic Oberlin. The cure proved to be a failure and the remaining years of his life were spent in aimless drifting and poverty. Rihm’s opera is based upon a short story written by Georg Büchner, a romantic writer, of early XIXth century.     

Psychiatrie médico-légale et méthode psychopathologique au cours de la première partie du XX siècle

Epistemological analysis is used for studying forensic psychiatry in xxth century. Clinical analysis with psychodynamical and psychoanalytical approaches have build specifical analysis used for clinical studies. Epistemological analysis is used for studying forensic psychiatry process.     

La notion de structure en psychiatrie

The author explains the origins and the development of the notion of structure : Gestalttheory, structural linguistics, globalist neurology, social anthropology. He explains then the place and the functions of the notion of structure in contemporaneous psychiatry and in psychoanalysis.