Denis talks about his illness in a book

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” The bipolarity, it’s my secret sorrow”, “like a fish without water”, “a seasonal handicap”… In a collection, Denis, a resident of a town close to Mans (Sarthe), wrote his thoughts in black and white.

Words gathered in a book

Funny, offbeat, melancholy… they were brought together in a little book entitled “Bipolarium”.

The first sign of the disease is his companion and caregiver, Sylvie, who receives us at her home. Denis won’t show up… “He needs to sleep. He hasn’t worked for 10 years,” she says. When they met in 1998, “he was still not on treatment.”

“What seemed like depression”

The affection that affects Denis appeared much earlier, in his youth, when he had to go to the army. “At that moment what seemed like a depression started,” Sylvie remembers. “He went anyway. »

The man was then hospitalized. And his family found themselves “with a diagnosis but without knowing what to do with it”.

Alcoholism, license withdrawal, prison, suicide attempt… “He no longer reacted to antidepressants,” continues his caregiver. “Alcohol becomes a sort of compensation when things don’t go well. »

“Phrases that I found particularly poetic”

Separated from her partner for a period, Sylvie nevertheless kept in touch. “We wrote to each other. And sometimes there were phrases which I found particularly poetic. »

The idea of ​​making a collection of it was born. His relatives began to search in notebooks and letters…

The result is this small collection, initially intended for loved ones, “Bipolarium”, of around sixty pages, composed of a succession of aphorisms. Some of these ideas directly evoke bipolarity, unease… Others are lighter. “Denis selected the sentences he wanted to share. »

“Understand what’s going on in your head”

The goal now: find a publisher and “leave a trace”, as Sylvie explains:

Being able to share with loved ones and others what a person who suffers from this pathology is going through is far from easy. This doesn’t excuse behavior that’s out of line, but it does help you understand what’s going on in your head.

Bipolarity remains a little-known disease in France and affects between 1 and 2.5% of the population. The former TV presenter, Sylvain Augier, who died in March 2024, suffered from it.

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