How John Rambo passed on the couch of a psychiatrist in Lille

Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo.

-

“They're sick.

What do John Rambo, Tony Soprano, Carrie Mathison or Hannibal Lecter have in common?

Of course, all of them are fictional characters.

But for Christophe Debien, psychiatrist at the Lille University Hospital Center (CHU), they are all sick.

Not daddy's little cold, no, but good mental illness: depression, bipolarity, schizophrenia ... Passionate about cinema and series, the doctor has also made a book of it,

, in which he invites the reader to dive into the psyche of these characters that we will never look in the same way again.

In another life, Christophe Debien was Marseillais.

This 52-year-old psychiatrist arrived in Lille 26 years ago and never wanted to leave.

It was also when he landed here that the desire to write began to tickle him.

A desire that will materialize in a detective novel entitled

, published in 2007.

"Learning psychiatry through series or films is appropriate"

In addition to his work as a shrink, in an office, at the hospital or through the Vigilans network for suicide prevention, he has also set up a Psylab YouTube channel.

He also teaches, and that is where the idea of ​​psychoanalysis of fictional heroes came from.

“With students, we always have to renew our teaching style.

I find that learning psychiatry through series or films is appropriate, especially since it has been a recurring subject since the beginnings of cinema ”, explains the doctor.

Man is a veritable encyclopedia of the small and the big screen.

Except that to avoid publishing a 2,000-page book, he had to decide.

“It took subtlety to choose the films.

I lingered on those in which there was an intention to show psychiatry because my desire is not to interpret but to explain the illnesses of the characters, ”he continues.

One of her favorite heroes, featured in the book, is Carrie Mathison, the spy of the

series

.

“The clinical picture of the disease from which the character suffers, bipolarity, is very relevant.

It also shows that you can do something interesting with your life, as a CIA agent, while suffering from a mental disorder, ”insists Christophe Debien.

All heroes have something wrong

Apart from the fact that he destroys everything that moves, John Rambo drags a "post-traumatic syndrome that makes him what he is" and from which many soldiers, especially those returning from the Vietnam war, also suffer.

Mafioso Tony Soprano is the example proving that "depression can affect everyone and that it is not a question of strength or weakness", underlines the psychiatrist.

There are wheelbarrows like that, because all the heroes ultimately have something wrong: “To make stories, there must be obstacles.

Mental illness is increasingly exploited because people want to know what it really is, outside of the clichés, ”says the author.

Our heroes are sick

, released on September 23 by humenSciences editions (20 euros, 192 pages).

People

David Lynch and Duran Duran Offer Transcendent Meditation Classes to American Caregivers

Health

Psychiatry: On the Adamant, a psychiatric hospital boat, we treat differently

• Books

• Psychiatry

• Culture

• Lille