We are at the post-war German expatriate community in Paris.
"He put his fist on his waist, smiled, bent forward a little and said, 'I think I've found it. I've found the trauma that has made me into this mutilated man. I'm ready to heal."" (Rabelais, 1532).
The diagnosis and treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after World War I may be given to psychiatrists today. In 1978, Pierre Clémenti, Dr. Nora, using a pen name, wrote a play Piccole labbra (small lips), which was performed in Paris in a small theater at the Piccole labbra station, after he came out of the war. In French, "small lips" mean the same as "micro-traumatized" and in the original the phrase is "Microprévention post traumatique".
Here is his description of this play:
The personal and social background of Dr. Nora.
Dr. Nora is a psychiatrist, using antidepressants to treat his patients. His patients are the French expatriate community in France in the 1950s. He treats a white American, a woman from Texas, he has patients from many countries. He takes a lot of responsibility for his patients. He is somewhat convinced that the psychiatric institution is a moral and legal failure. He is all the time uneasy.
The play.
Dr. Nora has now returned to his homeland in France after the war. His expatriate friend receives him at the airport. His wife who is a neurologist wants to know why he returns: "Why did you come back?" "To look for my trauma" "I do not think that you are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder." "My colleague, she does not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, but I could not know, and if she does not suffer from it, it is a great gain." "Not now, I have an appointment".
He sits in his therapist's waiting room for his appointment. The first one consults him with worry. The second looks at him: "You have already checked out a neuro-psychiatrist, but your wife is a neurologist." He starts to laugh: "I am not neuro-psychiatrist, you know, because I have never done any testing. She has had, she has a medical title". They laugh together.
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