Psychiatry in Nîmes: “At Mas Cavaillac, we treat but, above all, we help rebuild lives”

Les psychiatres William Alarcon et Aurélie Schandrin : “Rompre le cycle des réhospitalisations et des catastrophes associées”. Midi Libre – K. H.

With therapeutic apartments, a day hospital, a reception residence and psycho-social rehabilitation, the association offers multidisciplinary care for psychiatric disorders. A fairly unique and very effective device.

Djamila smiles shyly. "In a month, I'm moving, I'll have my own place, I'll get by…& quot;For a year, she has lived in a therapeutic apartment at Mas Cavaillac, a stone's throw from Boulevard Jean-Jaurès, where an educator, nurse, social worker… come to help him get back on track with a life too disrupted by illness. To regain as much autonomy as possible, with psycho-educational support which will continue as long as necessary.

Six months in a therapeutic apartment

For around ten years, the psychiatrist William Alarcon, head of department at Mas Cavaillac, his solid team of around twenty people, and the CHU psychiatrists Aurélie Schandrin and Mocrane Abbar , support patients who suffer from severe psychiatric disorders via a multidisciplinary system that has proven itself. wandering, severe social decompensation, always very chaotic life paths, explains the psychiatrist.

Some no longer have identity papers, no more Social Security, no longer receive their disability allowance, have trashed their homes in a fit of delirium on multiple occasions…hellip; Here, serious symptoms arrive to be treated but above all fragile lives to be rebuilt.

For this, Mas Cavaillac offers 22 places in therapeutic apartments in the common rental stock, "for stays of six months on average, taken care of as a hospitalization". A time which allows the establishment of appropriate care, support towards a social life, autonomy and an apartment of one's own.

We’re not just sick

Follow-up then continues via the day hospital, both a living space on Boulevard Jean-Jaurès where people come to drink coffee, play table football or use the ;computer but also continue monitoring with the entire medical and educational team. "We have 150 patients in active queue. Our priority is really to break the cycle of rehospitalizations which too often punctuate the lives of these patients, with the associated social catastrophe, disintegration, loss of everything we had acquired, describes William Alarcon.

But there's no question of abandoning home monitoring, "it's part of the contract anyway" , he smiles. "If we didn’go, we would only do a quarter of our work. There, you can also "feel" how the patient progresses. The way we live in our house is also the way we live in our head!"

Nearly 80% of patients followed in therapeutic apartments move to individual apartments, 60% always followed by the day hospital, the others followed elsewhere. Always walking on a tightrope: helping without creating dependency?

Lives stabilized

And the results are convincing. "Before their arrival with us, 73 % of patients had experienced more than three hospitalizations over more than a year. 70% of those we follow are not rehospitalized and 13% for less than a month only, rejoices William Alarcon.

Another telling figure: 64% of patients experienced a violent act before their arrival. There are only 8% left after the day hospital.

“The heart of our business”

Far from reality, the glamorous media star psychiatry has somewhat distorted the image of the profession, regrets William Alarcon. "The historical heart of psychiatry is the severe disorders which concern approximately 5 % to 6 % of the population", estimates the one who, at Mas Cavaillac, treats them and accompanies them with passion. Two thirds of the patients seen there are men, 52% are schizophrenic, 28% bipolar, 12% have personality disorders, 7% have autism spectrum disorders. . "We are opening two places on an experimental basis for autistic patients whose care after 18 years and the transition to adulthood are often very difficult".< /p>

"We work in conjunction with Mas Careiron in Uzès and the Nîmes University Hospital. Therapeutic apartments avoid keeping patients hospitalized due to lack of care upon discharge. Our system is quite rare,” observe psychiatrists Alarcon and Schandrin. Mas Cavaillac also works hand in hand with Unafam and guardianship services for the most coherent support possible.

"Hence the importance of access to care and early care", insists psychiatrist Aurélie Schandrin who adds psycho-social rehabilitation to this already efficient system. "At Mas Cavaillac, psychiatry is not just medication and psychotherapy. We created the structure based on the needs of patients. We offer care, all administrative assistance, a social grocery store, but there is more to a patient than just their illness. We restore hope, we work on self-esteem, autonomy, we support their life project, their dream of a family or a work".

For the most vulnerable who need to be protected, a reception residence offers 22 places in studios, "like shared accommodation , with an on-site monitoring team and a supportive collective life."

At Mas Cavaillac, "we're really getting our hands dirty", say the psychiatrists, delighted to see shattered lives blossom again, "happy patients"… Despite everything and thanks to the work of an entire motivated team.

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