2023-12-18 16:46:02
Par Manuel Rodríguez
Published on Dec 18, 23 at 5:46 p.m. See my news Follow La Chronique Républicaine
His cry of alarm changed nothing. Or almost.
In October 2022, Cédric Hebert, resident of Pays de Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine) alerted about the situation of his son, Tywen, 14 years old, suffering from schizophrenia.
Since then, the boy has always alternated his days between a medical educational institute “where they can’t do anything, they are not equipped to cope”, and the day hospital in Rennes “where care support has been reduced half a day.
He threatened his mother with a knife, hit her
And Tywen grows. If he manages to “verbalize better when he is bad, when his voices speak to him”, he has increasing outbursts of anger. “He sometimes becomes uncontrollable,” confirm his parents who have recorded “at least” 15 hallucinatory attacks over the last twelve months.
Some, very worrying. In January, he threatened his mother with a knife before his father overpowered him. In May, he punched her, leaving her bruised in several places. Another time he destroyed his room and the interior of the car.
Regularly, he turns this violence against himself: “He often talks about suicide, he has made two attempts,” emphasizes the father.
“I had to call the police several times,” admits Séverine, the mother, very weakened by the situation: “It hurts to take physical and mental blows and realize that you are helpless. »
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1 out of 2
According to Inserm, in a file produced in collaboration with the psychiatry and neuroscience university hospital group in Paris, 1 in 2 patients with schizophrenia makes a suicide attempt, and 10% die. 600,000 people are affected by this pathology in France.
“Psychiatry is the poor relation of health”
Cédric boils: “We always feel alone, always abandoned to our fate. What are doctors waiting for, to take us seriously, for him to do harm? Whether he kills someone or commits suicide? »
Separated, Tywen’s two parents feel like they are facing mountains of incomprehension.
We turn arround. All the caregivers and educators we meet at one time or another notice that things are not going well. But nothing is done, nothing is moving forward.
Séverine, Tywen’s mother
“We don’t want charity, but he has the right to be properly cared for,” adds Cédric.
With his ex-wife, they would like Tywen to be hospitalized for at least two weeks every four to six months. In order to take stock of the progression of the disease and the medication. “They tell us: not enough space,” thunders Cédric.
Even for emergency hospitalizations, they face waiting times. “Several weeks sometimes”, deplores Séverine who pleads for the creation of “a single structure” to take care of schizophrenics, a place where all “professionals would speak the same language”, where there would be “continuity” . “At the moment, some are working on appeasement while others are telling us to work on frustration. We don’t know what to do. »
Cédric, who discovered the existence of a suitable establishment in Canada (“It’s €14,000 per year. Impossible for us”), doesn’t believe it:
This government does not provide enough resources to health: the hospital is overloaded and psychiatry is the poor relation of health. It is unacceptable.
Cédric, Tywen’s dad
“He can neither read nor write”
The fight they have been waging for years is leaving its mark. On Tywen, first.
On antipsychotics and neuroleptics, adolescents have no friends, almost no social life and accumulate considerable delays in their development. “He can neither read nor write and barely count,” note the two parents for whom daily life “is very complicated.” “We get exhausted. It requires incredible, permanent strength. Fortunately we get along well,” breathes Cédric.
Schizophrenia, “a complex chronic psychiatric pathology”
Inserm, National Institute of Health and Medical Research, is a public scientific and technological establishment, placed under the dual supervision of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Research. He defines schizophrenia as “a complex chronic psychiatric pathology which results schematically in a disturbed perception of reality. » Symptoms can manifest chronically or episodically (period of psychosis).
Productive (or positive) symptoms include delusions and hallucinations and can result in a feeling of persecution, megalomania, implausible and eccentric delusions, or even sensory hallucinations, often auditory, but also visual, olfactory, tactile or taste.
Negative (or deficit) symptoms correspond to affective and emotional impoverishment. The patient withdraws and gradually isolates himself from his family, friends and social circle. Finally, dissociative symptoms correspond to a disorganization of thoughts, words, emotions and bodily behaviors.
For Inserm, “despite the emphasis given to certain news items, schizophrenic patients dangerous to society are a minority. Only rare cases give rise to outbursts of violence during a crisis, and this aggressiveness is most often directed towards the patient himself. »
Séverine agrees: “We lack sleep, we are never calm. Tywen can’t stand on his own. »
And they cannot rely on their respective families: “They all saw him in crisis. They’re afraid they won’t be able to handle it if it happens. That’s understandable,” continues Séverine.
It is difficult, in these conditions, to lead a normal life. “There are almost no family reunions, little or no outings, because Tywen requires a lot of attention and it can degenerate in no time,” laments Séverine.
Fear of the future
The schizophrenia, “it’s destructive to those around you,” insists Cédric. “Seeing him get angry, scream, show violence, it takes a toll. Especially on his brothers and sisters. »
The youngest of the family has just started psychological follow-up. “Even though Tywen asks a lot of us, we also have to make sure that everyone else in the family is doing well, as well as possible.”
“Alone” in this storm, Cédric, his wife, Laëtitia, and Séverine, Tywen’s mother, find comfort as best they can. On Facebookin specialized discussion groups.
They cling to positive testimonies, to these life experiences told by schizophrenics and those around them: “Some say that it stabilizes with maturity, if the medication is well found…”
“A hope” which does not prevent a real “fear of the future”, worries Séverine:
What will Tywen’s future be like? What will he be heading towards? What is he going to do with his life?
Séverine, Tywen’s mother
A cry of alarm. Again.
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