The tragic story of a mother who killed her own son following a schizophrenic delirium reminds us that in France, relatives of people suffering from severe mental disorders are often helpless.
When a mental disorder that gets worse year after year and goes untreated leads to a bloody family tragedy. An article from Parisian dated May 8, 2021 returns to a tragic news item related to schizophrenia. “It’s a family marked by madness and death”, explains to the newspaper the expert-psychiatrist Isabelle Teillet, responsible for evaluating the mental state of a 69-year-old woman who slaughtered her 32-year-old son in a state of schizophrenic delirium, October 31, 2017 in Combs-la -City (Seine-et-Marne). Criminalally, the 60-year-old was deemed irresponsible for the crime, but justice has yet to define what will be the rest of her life: internment under duress or a return to her family? According to the findings at the time, the victim, Ibrahim, who lived with his mother Ramatoulaye and his other brother Samba, was fatally injured in the neck while he was in bed. A story linked to the lack of support from his mother.
Years of delusions and hallucinations
Between fits of delirium and paranoia, this Senegalese woman, who arrived in France in 1974, had been struggling for many years against serious psychiatric disorders, caused among other things by a past as a battered child. She had thus torn the electric cables of all the appliances in the house for according to her “fight against their evil waves” and had damaged the walls to “repel attacks from outside“, we can read in the Parisian. Before the tragedy, it was not the first time that she attempted the life of her sons. Twice, she had indeed wanted to attack them with a knife and a cutter. “A low dose of neuroleptic would have avoided this tragedy, but the problem remains that this woman is excessively dangerous, explains Dr Isabelle Teillet. And this family has paid a high price for this lack of care. “ The experts in charge of this case call for lifelong treatment on pain of relapse. For the Advocate General, the sexagenarian must be interned. What disapproves of Me Jérôme Karsenti, who advises Ramatoulaye. “You don’t have to lock people up to cure them”, he says.
At Le Parisien, children talk about the reasons that led them to leave their mother without treatment. “This is the example of our big sister, who benefited from a psychiatric follow-up which scalded us. She had been interned many times and she ended up committing suicide. (…) We didn’t want to see our mother go down the drain of psychiatry. At the time, we were lost. We didn’t know where to turn, relate Issa and Kadi. Today we all feel guilty. We should have done otherwise. ” The decision on whether or not Ramatoulaye is interned will be made on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.
Schizophrenia, a poorly understood disease
This case remains exceptional: schizophrenia rarely leads to tragedies of this type. On the other hand, it illustrates the fact that the absence of patient care can have serious consequences. Near 600,000 people have it in France, but it remains a poorly understood pathology and a source of prejudice. “There is no schizophrenia, there are schizophrenias. Everyone develops a different schizophrenia, there are a lot of different symptoms. Afterwards, the biggest symptoms are the psychotic crises, the psychotic anxieties. You can also hear voices, but not all schizophrenics hear voices “, testified Lucille, who suffers from it, in front of the camera of Brut in October 2020. 30% of people in France are embarrassed if they have a family meal with someone with a psychiatric illness. So there are still big taboos to be lifted with regard to all psychiatric illnesses and more particularly schizophrenia as well “. The young woman co-founded the association The Perched House with the aim of supporting people with mental health problems and their loved ones. But also to de-stigmatize mental illness in society.
Currently, treatments exist to help the sick, but “the plurality of symptoms makes treatment difficult, Explain the Brain Institute (ICM). Schizophrenia is mainly treated with neuroleptics, drugs that help control both positive and negative symptoms. Cognitive-behavioral therapies are very useful for working with the patient on cognitive deficits and the risks of desocialization to which he may be a victim, in order to stabilize him in his daily life “.
Brain Institute
Celine Peschard
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