Psycho: telling about your illness
Long killed, the disease is told today. This is evidenced by the large number of books relating the journey of people who have lived it. At the origin of these often moving stories, the desire to share a painful experience, but not only. “It was a very personal process. I needed to keep track of the history of my little Thaïs as long as my memories were still intact, recalls Anne-Dauphine Julliand, who lost her 2-year-old daughter to an illness. I also wanted to pass on to my son, born since, the story of the sister he did not know. “
Our expert
Yvonne Poncet-Bonnissol, psychologist
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A liberation but also a message of hope
At first, the young woman does not intend to write a book, it is those around her who push her to do so. “By rereading certain pages, I am able to smell my daughter’s scent, to find her smile again, it’s very precious!” Says Anne-Dauphine Julliand. Other authors have different motivations. For Claude Pinault, who recounted his adventure using a finger on each hand, the only ones left by illness, the book was synonymous with consecration. As a child, he dreamed of writing. Bedridden by Guillain-Barré syndrome (which leads to progressive paralysis), he took the time. The success of the book allowed him to turn the disease into a positive point in his life. And to send a message of hope to those who suffer on their hospital beds.
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A process that helps people smile again
Whether it is an illness or a painful experience, telling your story requires clarifying your ideas. “This visualization effort has a catharsis (liberation) function: the words come out of oneself and the discomfort subsides,” explains Yvonne Poncet-Bonnissol, psychologist. This projection of oneself on paper liberates and gives the sensation of an accomplished act which does good. ” One of his patients, who had lived for a long time with an irascible being, found serenity only after writing 1,029 pages!
Without going that far, many women blacken pages and pages when they are alone. “I write because I want my grandchildren to know what a woman I was, how I faced life when my husband left me,” says Marie, who has since found a smile. You don’t need to be published for the calming power of writing to work. It is putting words into his ills that counts.
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