Eloise Bertil 08:00, March 22, 2023

PODCAST - From March 18 to 25, the Schizophrenia Days take place, to lift taboos around this disease which, according to Inserm, affects no less than 600,000 people in France. Like bipolar, schizophrenia is a psychosis in which the patient is out of touch with reality. How to deal with these mental illnesses on a daily basis? In the podcast "Dans les yeux d'Olivier", Youri, schizophrenic, and Marion, bipolar, testify.

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While schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are recognized as two distinct neuropsychiatric conditions, they have some clinical symptoms, genetic abnormalities and common treatments. To better understand these invisible diseases and their impact on everyday life, Olivier Delacroix went to meet Marion and Youri, who agreed to talk about their experience.

Yuri, schizophrenic: "I totally doubted my identity"

At the age of 17, Yuri was diagnosed with schizophrenia by a neurologist. At the microphone of Olivier Delacroix, he says: "This word, for me, meant nothing other than the image I had of the media and films where there were schizophrenic serial killers. I had the totally wrong clichés like split personality, which was not the case at all." It is following a first consumption of ecstasy that appear in him the signs of a psychosis: delirious puffs, forgetfulness, erroneous memories ... Yuri is gradually losing touch with reality. "All the information we accumulate during a day is going to be wrong, and we embroider like that a parallel reality that is made of terror. That's psychosis," he said. Yuri even comes to have the constant impression of being watched by spies. "I made myself a whole science fiction scenario. But all this seemed totally normal to me as the days or months went by. It is more and more anchored: the slightest sound, the slightest noise, the slightest information feeds the psychosis, "he confides in the podcast "In the eyes of Olivier". To hear more about how this mental illness has changed his daily life and impacted his relationships, listen to his testimony.

Marion, bipolar: "I couldn't stand fighting against myself anymore"

Since childhood, Marion has alternated between states of euphoria and moments of deep sadness and aggressiveness. In its high periods, it feels able to climb mountains, but in its low periods, it sinks into abysses of depression. At the age of 14, the crying attacks worsen, and Marion comes to self-mutilation. In the podcast "Dans les yeux d'Olivier", she confides: "I cut myself in places where it was not visible, especially on my thighs. I wanted to get the pain out." Then in high school, Marion begins to have hallucinations. "I had the feeling that my organs were starting to rot, like gangrene in the belly. But actually, I was making myself sick." Rushed to the psychiatric hospital by her parents, the diagnosis falls: Marion suffers from bipolarity. "We had to learn that this is not a character trait, but a pathology. " To find out how her family reacted to this diagnosis and how Marion lives with her bipolar disorder today, listen to her testimony.

In the podcast "Dans les yeux d'Olivier" available on all listening platforms, Olivier Delacroix gives the floor to those who have never had it and takes the time to collect their testimony. He seeks to understand without judging intimate wounds, personal dramas and deep questions.

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