Bipolarity, schizophrenia… In Nice, this “living library” allows you to borrow a human to break the taboo of mental health
2023-10-22 07:30:00
Why it matters
3 out of 4 French people see mental health as “a taboo topic”. This is the observation drawn up by the latest Barometer of the mental well-being of the French, published in 2022 (Aésio-IFOP Foundation study).
A figure up compared to 2021. However, this public health problem, often wrongly associated with madness, is far from being marginal.
According to the WorldHealth Organization, 1 in 4 Europeans are affected by psychological disorders during their lifetime.
“In France, it is estimated that 15% of 10-20 year olds need follow-up or care. 7.5% of French people aged 15 to 85 have suffered from depression in the last 12 months”indicates the website of the Ministry of Health.
In 2022, 23% of French people described their state of mental health as average or poor, compared to 19% in 2021.
Noon, on the Carlone campus, the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Human Sciences of Nice. Corridors and lecture halls pour out a diffuse flow of students, on their way to their lunch break.
On the square, between the BU and the cafeteria, opposite the main entrance, something is going on. Empty chairs face each other in pairs, scattered here and there.
A large displayed billboard announces a slightly obscure animation… “Living Library – Discover and borrow a living book!”
Organized by the Local Mental Health Council of the city of Nice, the event brings together teams from the Bellagio day hospital, a department of the Sainte-Marie hospital center, specializing in the treatment of mental illnesses.
But also users directly affected by a pathology: like Benjamin, 34 years old and Véronique, 57 years old, both suffering from bipolar disorders; or even Liliane, 57 years old, diagnosed with schizophrenia.
This afternoon, everyone can be “borrowed”, like a book at the library, for a duration of 20 minutes. Objective: to share your life journey with a stranger passing through this square.
Atomizing prejudices
Born in the 2000s in Denmark, the concept of a “human library” germinated in the mind of Ronni Abergel of the Stop the Violence association. A structure that he founded after the death of a friend, stabbed in the street by a stranger.
His idea: to fight against the discrimination and xenophobia that pervade society… by simply taking the time to meet others. An organized and secure exchange.
Since then, the concept has spread to more than 90 countries, including France. “I was in contact with the hospital [psychiatrique] Le Vinatier in Lyon which uses this tool to fight against stigma in mental health. In spring 2023, I opened the discussion with the Sainte-Marie hospital in Nice and we launched a call for volunteers to become a living book.explains Marion Vandebrouck, coordinator of the Local Mental Health Council, created in 2015 to bring about local solutions.
“Our society has 60 years of mental health awareness to its credit. But these campaigns do very little to move the lines. We too often associate dangerousness and unpredictability with certain pathologies, such as schizophrenia. Meetings can change the mentalities”, supports Martine Boggero, psychologist at the Bellagio day hospital, a stakeholder in the system.
A very codified meeting
On the square in front of the Faculty of Letters, many curious students interacted with the living “books”. Photo Aurélie Selvi.
To become “books” and share their story with people they would probably never have spoken to, Liliane, Benjamin, Véronique, Aïcha, affected by the illness, and Isabelle, psychiatrist, participated in 3 writing workshops .
Result: an autobiographical story, with a catchy title and chapters, which they will read to their interlocutor one day.
Benjamin, a tall guy in orange pants, is holding his packet of papers in his hands when Anna, a 20-year-old literature student, arrives, directed by a “alpagueur”, responsible for presenting him with the “living works”. They sit face to face for 20 minutes.
“It was very touching and interesting, it brings a new perspective,” Anna, literature student
Benjamin reads his life: childhood, condensed milk coffee and jam biscuits, the lack of confidence filled by volleyball, sporting ambitions… And then the illness which arrives and forces him to leave the high school “through the little door” at 15, medical wandering until diagnosis, “resociabilisation” thanks to the association Le Phare des deux poles which, in Nice, helps to live with bipolarity and the workshops at the Sainte-Marie day hospital.
But above all, he dissects his passion for art, the books – Zola, Dostoyewski – which hold him. “It was the culture that allowed me to show that I was not just a sick person”he reads.
Anna listens attentively, her eyes sometimes get lost in vagueness and emotion comes to the surface. “Wow… thank you. Have you ever thought about writing an essay? You have a great pen”she reacts.
La discussion s’engage. “It was very touching and interesting, it brings a new perspective. Each experience is different, no one fits into a box. I recommend the experience to everyone”she tells us.
“Sharing my story allows me to realize that I have evolved”, Benjamin, suffering from bipolarity
Marion, from the Local Mental Health Committee, records her feelings in writing. The system is codified, health personnel present on site. An hour later, Benjamin and the others have already told their story to around fifteen strangers. “I didn’t expect it to be so interesting, it also allows me to see that I have evolved”says the thirty-year-old.
In Nice, in partnership with the University, the living library will soon be located in front of the medical school. “Too many students still have false beliefs about psychiatry”underlines Claire Mosca, nurse at Bellagio and professor in nursing school.
Clem, in her second year of nursing, agrees: “We have these clichés in the heads of furious, unpredictable madmen. What struck me the most when working at the Bellagio day hospital is that care is the time spent with the people, in writing workshops, musical listening. There, I just saw that they all had a personality, tastes, that they are not limited to their illness”testifies the young man.