"Nicolas Demorand's book on his bipolar disorder is a plea for public psychiatry"

The brilliance of Intérieur nuit , the book by Nicolas Demorand (Les Arènes), is measured by the 120,000 copies sold in bookstores and the many thanks the author receives daily. "There was a mass of suffering in the country that could not be expressed," he concluded, in the program "La Grande Librairie" [on France 5] on May 28.

Indeed, more than a third of the French population is, or will be, affected by a psychiatric illness. No one knows if they will have to face their own untamable side or that of a loved one. Disruptions in psychological balance abound during adolescence, after a traumatic event, or like a bolt from the blue. Public hospitals can treat them, as Nicolas Demorand discovered after his medical wanderings.

Added to this are more insidious mental illnesses: the rise in depression is exponential; suicidal thoughts among young adults have proliferated since the pandemic; the prescription of certain psychotropic drugs is increasing. Alongside saturated public psychiatric services , consultations with private practitioners are exploding (26% increase for us psychologists between 2019 and 2022, if we are to believe the statistics on the Doctolib website). Mental pain has an economic cost: in 2024, mental illness was the largest item of expenditure for health insurance.

Nicolas Demorand's tour de force is to attempt to turn a stigma into leverage. Thanks to a correct diagnosis, the "mentally ill" could cease to fear being discredited.

Even today, 50% of them prefer to remain silent. The price of denial is high. Many self-medicate with addictions, expressing their discomfort through somatizations or aggressive behavior toward themselves or others. We can hope that the treatment gap —the harmful delay in initiating treatment—will be replaced by a "MeToo" movement that encourages the demand for care.

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