[Professional marginalization and affective illness (a case study).].

Abstract

The authors, a psychiatrist and a psychologist, provide an overview of how little understanding and research exist concerning the readaptation and professional réintégration of the mentally ill. The subject matter highlights the specific problems experienced by people plagued by emotional illnesses. The study also presents a case history which illustrates how "professional withdrawal" takes place for these people, in other words how their career is interrupted and/or how they experience the aftermath of the loss of a stable job. In conclusion, the authors recommend that a new branch of psychiatry dealing with work be opened, that a new professional role in psychiatry be established following what already exists at Louis-H Lafontaine Hospital and, eventually, that changes be made to the status of mentally ill patients and to their being labeled handicapped. The authors also recommend that research be undertaken on emotionally ill people who are victims of professional withdrawal, in order to properly assess the seriousness of the problem.