#la Salpêtrière

[outofeverythingthisnamewasleft]

[daniel-simon-78]

Belle exposition de Jean-Louis Courtinat, 40 ans de photographie sociale, à la grande chapelle de la Salpêtrière.

C'est jusqu'au 29 novembre

Photos Daniel SIMON

[lux-et-astra]

i have three (3) tragic women from history that i think everyone ought to know more about and they are, in no particular order, louise augustine gleizes (a hysterical patient in 1800s paris), alice kober (got heart-wrenchingly close to cracking linear b in post-war new york), and ada lovelace (world’s first computer programmer)

i’ve cried over all of them at different points and i just think they’re fantastic and deserve more recognition. my book list (if anyone’s interested in learning more about them!) follows thus: Medical Muses (asti hustvedt), The Riddle of the Labyrinth (margalit fox), and The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (sydney padua). they all come with citations and they’re all FABULOUS. cannot recommend any of them enough!

(these ladies are also all inspiration for different ideas for musicals but that’s besides the point lol)

[nunc2020]

fin de lecture époustouflante du livre de Laure Murat sur l’histoire politique de la folie.

[funeral]

Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière

[postcard-from-the-past]

La Salpêtrière Hospital in the 13th district of Paris

French vintage postcard

[queerographies]

[Le ragazze della Baleine][Julia Malye]

Un romanzo storico di grande suggestione, con tre indimenticabili eroine Titolo: Le ragazze della BaleineScritto da: Julia MalyeTitolo originale: Pelican GirlsTradotto da: Elena CappelliniEdito da: MondadoriAnno: 2024Pagine: 408ISBN: 9788804756163 Le ragazze della Baleine di Julia Malye Parigi, 1720. La superiora dell’ospedale della Salpêtrière, Marguerite Pancatelin, è tormentata dai dubbi:…

[meta-holott]

2015 Paris, chapelle de la Salpêtrière

[ginogirolimoni]

Pinel fa togliere le catene ai malati mentali a Bicêtre nel 1793, dipinto di Charles Louis Müller.

Pinel libera i malati mentali nell'ospedale della Salpêtrière nel 1795, di Tony Robert-Fleury

Franco Basaglia, neurologo e psichiatra.

Nel 1793 Philippe Pinel toglie le catene ai malati mentali a Bicêtre, nel 1795 libera i malati mentali  dell’ospedale della Salpêtrière, inaugurando una rivoluzione in ambito psichiatrico: questi malati andavano curati e non custoditi.

Nasce la “terapia morale”, che condurrà più tardi alla psicoterapia.

Dall’esperienza presso il manicomio di Gorizia e, soprattutto di Trieste, lo psichiatra e neurologo Franco Basaglia giunge a maturare l’idea che molti dei sintomi attivi dei pazienti psichiatrici non derivino direttamente dalla loro malattia, ma sono epifenomeni della vita alienante che vivono in manicomio.

Insieme ad altre persone illuminate si batte per abolire i manicomi e per attuare una forma di terapia in cui il paziente sia quanto più possibile inserito nel suo tessuto familiare e culturale; l’idea geniale è quella di portare la cura a domicilio.

Il 13 maggio 1978 vide la luce in Italia la legge 180, che aboliva i manicomi (eccetto quelli criminali) e prevedeva il sorgere di centri di salute mentale e di diagnosi e cura in ogni quartiere cittadino, con gli operatori sanitari che si rechino nel domicilio del paziente.

Questa legge è stata considerata la più illuminata, la più all’avanguardia fra quelle che nel mondo regolamentano questa materia, da ogni parte del mondo venivano in Italia operatori sanitari dell’ambito psichiatrico e psicoterapeutico per capire come venisse attuata.

Purtroppo questa legge ebbe fin da subito un problema esiziale, voluta dalla sinistra, dalla “psichiatria democratica”, e dai movimenti riformatori più all’avanguardia del nostro paese, fu poi di fatto gestita e attuata dai conservatori, dai democristiani e dalle forze più retrive, che non l’avevano mai voluta.

Oggi c’è ancora chi vorrebbe ritornare ai manicomi, dimostrando così di essere i primi ad avere la necessità di esservi internati; io dico che non soltanto la Legge Basaglia andrebbe applicata nella sua totalità, con tutte le professionalità e tutte le strutture che prevede, ma che dovremmo anche “liberare” le persone con disagio mentale dalle catene degli psicofarmaci, che li fanno vivere in uno stato di perenne inebetimento.

[la-salpetriere]

Blanche Wittman and PNES (Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures)

Blanche Wittman, famed La Salpêtrière hysteric is the pinnacle of what the modern-day public thinks of when they imagine "female hysteria" that being young women institutionalized and used as entertainment. In fact, most of our modern understanding of what hysteria was comes from Jean-Martin Charcot's work on La Salpêtrière's hysterics, one of the most notable examples being Blanche Whittman, forever immortalized in photographs and of course the famous André Brouillet painting "Une leçon clinique à la Salpêtrière"

Her dramatized and public portrayal of hysteria has led to an increase in awareness of neurological and psychiatric conditions primarily effecting women, PNES (Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures) which falls somewhere between psychiatric and neurological being one of these conditions, which seems a likely diagnosis for her if Blanche were to visit a modern neurology clinic.

What is PNES? PNES (Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures) are seizure episodes that highly resemble that of an epileptic seizure, though no brain activity resembling epilepsy is present. These seizures have a psychological basis, instead of a neurological one, though neurological imaging may be used in diagnosis before treatment is turned over to a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Blanche Wittman's symptoms present in her public case information across volumes of "Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière" line up very well with the current diagnostic criteria of PNES.

When Blanche was first admitted into La Salpêtrière in 1877, she was 18 years old, 1.62 meters tall (considered above average in this period) and weighing in at 70kg. Being raised in a troublesome and poor family, she was never taught to read and her intelligence was labeled as being below average by the hospital.

As stated before, Blanche was raised in a troublesome family, having nine siblings, including five who died in childhood from epilepsy and convulsions. Her father was prone to "fits of rage" and physically abused the young Blanche in many instances, and her mother died when Blanche was young, though the exact age varies from source to source.

She began a sexual relationship with her employer, a furrier, by force at the age of 15. She then admitted herself to a hospital (unclear exactly where) to escape the abuse eight months after it began. A while later she reported another sexual relationship with a boy called Alphonse. It seems to be unclear whether this relationship was consented to by Blanche, or another example of sexual abuse against her.

Abuse, especially sexual is an extremely common background in those with PNES. A diagnosis of PTSD or C-PTSD with PNES is quite common. It seems extremely likely that her abuse she went through played a role in these "hysterical attacks"

After some time taking refuge at a convent (Blanche seems to have been a devout Catholic, wearing a scapular and collecting various pieces of Christian iconography) she began working as a servant at La Salpêtrière, thinking this would make it easier for her to be eventually admitted into the hospital after they see her attacks.

Blanche eventually succeeded in her goal of being admitted to La Salpêtrière in 1877, at the age of 18. Her time there coincided with the peak of Jean-Martin Charcot's studies on hysteria, and she quickly became one of his star patients. Charcot’s research focused on hysteria as a neurological disorder, and his methods of public "demonstrations" of hysterical patients, including Blanche, led to increased attention to the condition. These public displays, often featuring dramatic reenactments of symptoms, cast a long shadow over how hysteria and by extension, women’s health was perceived for decades.

Blanche’s displays of hysteria to the public were not only attended by a medical crowd, but was also popular among a non-medical crowd, including that of actors, who would come to study Blanche’s intense displays of emotion under hypnosis.

Hypnosis was frequently used on Blanche during these displays, often to achieve the state of somnambulism, or extreme suggestibility, where the hypnotist could make her to believe just about anything they so desired, the effects sometimes even lasting long after the trance.

While the primary purpose of these displays was supposedly to educate on hysteria, they often came off as more entertaining stage hypnosis than anything. Some of this was mindless entertainment, though some was clearly intended to use Blanche’s fear and distress for laughs, whether to the audience or the hospital staff themselves, often young male medical students, finding it hilarious to sexualize and upset her.

During her intense states of somnambulism, she was often made to hallucinate snakes and rats at her feet. She would hike up her skirt and squeal, prompting voyeuristic laughs from the audience.

Unlike the many “wandering womb” theories we often associate with hysteria today, Charcot was among the first who believed hysteria had a neurological origin, attributing symptoms like convulsions, paralysis, and loss of consciousness to issues within the brain. This makes sense as Charcot was most certainly extremely knowledgeable about neuroscience. In fact, he was the first to identify and name multiple sclerosis as it’s own distinct condition, pioneered much amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research (the disease even being known as Charcot’s disease in parts of the world) and is associated with at least 15 different diseases named after him. For this reason, it only makes sense that a condition with invisible physical pathology must be caused by nervous system abnormalities, this being even more apparent when remembering this was a time before complex brain imaging and EEG technology was in use, it was nearly impossible to know whether something was psychological or neurological, and Charcot believed the latter.

However, many of these symptoms would align more closely with what we now understand as psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), a condition rooted in psychological trauma rather than physical abnormalities in the brain. Today, PNES is understood as a dissociative disorder, often linked to past trauma, which manifests in seizure episodes without the electrical disruptions seen in epilepsy.

Before her time institutionalized, Blanche's life was full of trauma and abuse, often seen in PNES patients. Not only that but Blanche also demonstrated a good example of "the teddy bear sign" a frequent pattern in PNES patients and an aid in diagnosis. A majority of PNES patients show up to EEG monitoring appointments with a comfort item, most often a stuffed animal. While we don't know exactly what Blanche would have done in the modern day, we do know she was an avid collector of stuffed animals and various little trinkets. This was common behavior among hysterics, suggesting what in the modern day we would call PNES was common among hysterics.

The "hysterical attacks" that made her a spectacle were, in all likelihood, trauma responses—demonstrations of a mind and body deeply affected by abuse. While these days are long gone, it's important to see just how much this outdated understanding of the brain both holds back and progresses our knowledge of the connection between body and brain.

[yama-bato]

Javier Viver

Révélations. Iconographie de la Salpêtrière, Paris 1875-1918. Fotolibro de Javier Viver

[francaistoutsimplement]

Saillie attribuée à SANDRINE ROUSSEAU : Député Ecolo du 13° arrondissement de Paris. réelue au 1° tour en juillet 2024 :

"Le réchauffement climatique provoque une augmentation de la température cérébrale, cela explique la baisse du quotient intellectuel" Je n’y crois pas. Personne peut être aussi con que ça ? elle a vraiment dit ça ? Elle a du mettre sa tête dans le micro-onde.

Elle a dû être bercée trop près du mur. Elle en gardé un sérieux problème, des soins psychiatriques sont à lui administrés en urgence.

Elle est élue du quartier de la Salpêtrière. N'oublions pas que ce fût un quartier enfermement. On peut encore y visiter abrite la Loge des Folles, la prison de la Force... Donc pas étonnant qu'elle ait pu y trouver 26020 demeurés pour l'élire.

(Rigolez pas, elle n'en branle plus une mais elle été prof .. Tous comptes faits elle est moins dangereuse à l'Assemblée.. (avec ses semblables) que face à des élèves...

[aschenblumen]

La histeria fue, durante largo tiempo, la bestia negra de los médicos, puesto que representaba, para todos, un miedo enorme: era una aporía convertida en síntoma. Ahora bien, ese síntoma era el síntoma de ser mujer; así de burdo; y todo el mundo lo sabía. Ustéra: lo que está completamente detrás, en el fondo, en el límite: la matriz. La palabra «histeria» aparece por primera vez en el aforismo trigésimo quinto de Hipócrates, en el que se lee: «En una mujer atacada de histeria, o que tiene un parto difícil, el estornudo que le sigue resulta favorable». Esto significa que el estornudo coloca el útero en su lugar, en su verdadero lugar; significa que el útero tiene la capacidad de desplazarse. Significa que esta especie de «miembro» propio de la mujer es un animal.

—Georges Didi-Huberman, «Mil formas, bajo ninguna» en La invención de la histeria. Charcot y la iconografía fotográfica de la Salpêtrière. Traducción de Tania Arias y Rafael Jackson.

[anawkwardlady]

Hippolyte has like, two brothers (Gustave and Jean) and they all had to result to duel at some point because they were fighting about someone's heart. They all still consider they have a good relationship tho.

Hippolyte brings macarons and choux to everyone in his dorms when he comes back from France.

At some point he gets some grey/white strands

He sends regular letters to a "fragile lover" who almost died of a heartbreak and had to be hospitalized in La Salpêtrière for a short period of time. At least thats all he tells when he is asked about it.

He doesn't want to be ALWAYS nude, unfortunately, you never see it coming.

He crushes on Alois a bit but since he is already living the hot girl summer he is not sad about rejection. He likes to draw his face.

He does like to dramatically stay under the rain every time he feels sad or heart broken tho

Back in France he has a cat called Joséphine

Ciel cant be around him too much because of his smoking habits

He thinks Maurice is a fascinating case of fakeness and vapidity (complimentary), he wants to draw him barefaced SO BAD.

He is the kind of person who goes sleep and food deprived until he gets the artpiece done

When he is not in his uniform his clothes are mostly pretty big on him and a bit messy, flowy blouses and black coats

[funeral]

Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière

[postcard-from-the-past]

View of the La Salpêtrière hospital of Paris

French vintage postcard