“November 13, 2015, it was a unique trauma”

The mechanisms are so complex that they take a lot of time to understand. In spring 2016, Francis Eustache launched the “November 13 Program” with historian Denis Peschanski to study the individual and collective memory of these 2015 attacks.

Francis Eustache is a neuropsychologist, director of studies at the practical school of advanced studies in Paris. Its laboratory, a unit of Inserm, is located at the University of Caen.

How was this program born?

“With Denis Peschanski, we had worked, through a thesis student, with William Hirst, an American researcher from the New School. This psychologist worked on the September 11, 2001 attacks through a corpus of questionnaires sent throughout the United States.

We resumed our analyzes and applied our methods. This influenced our study of November 13. »

Intrusions, sensory images tinged with strong emotions

What does it consist of?

“There are interviews filmed by the INA. In my laboratory in Caen, we also monitor a subsample. A total of 1,000 people are followed for interviews and among them, 200 come to Caen at regular intervals. We follow them psychiatrically and psychopathologically to see the evolution of symptoms.

We worked on the neuropsychological level and in brain imaging. We notably wrote an article in Science which had a certain impact. We are going to request an extension of the program to run it until 2028.”

Do we know what these traumas do to the brain?

“November 13, 2015 was a unique trauma. But among the people we follow there are commonalities and specificities.

This trauma is an encounter between this potentially traumatic situation and a singular individual. The same event can have different consequences in two individuals who were placed in almost the same place.

It is this singular encounter which will potentially create a traumatic situation which can become a post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD in English for post traumatic stress disorder. »

Are there phases?

“There is a dynamic that will begin during the period we call peri-traumatic. But people can react differently. For example, there may be feelings of derealization and depersonalization. We also talk about dissociation.

This may come from the way they experienced the event. If they were supported during the attack for example or in contact with someone else at that time. Just like the fact of having also experienced tragedies prior to the attack. »

After this first phase, how does it happen?

“Potentially a number of symptoms will develop. In the first weeks, we will talk about acute stress. We will consider reactions that occur as normal. If these reactions persist or even develop after a month, then we will speak of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

How do these disorders manifest?

“There can be a great diversity of expressions. Intrusions are a bit at the heart of post-traumatic stress disorder.

These are sensory images, often tinged with strong emotion, which arise in the person’s consciousness in an untimely and almost irrepressible manner.

It can be visual, sounds, smells… These are not memories in the strict sense. It is not a contextualized scene or a banal memory like one might have after a meeting with friends, for example. This one even rebuilt a little over time, you know it’s the past. The intrusions are simply disparate elements. They invade their consciousness.

The second symptom comes somewhat as a counterpoint to the first. These are the avoidance mechanisms that mean that the person will try to avoid everything that can generate these intrusions: enclosed places, performance halls, crowds, means of transport, etc. In finethese mechanisms could be positive but they become another type of confinement. They will cut her off from her social framework, from her relationships. And that will isolate him. »

Survivors of the attacks often speak of this isolation that no one could understand. For what ?

“If you have seen the film “Revoir Paris”, it is well described: a woman whose partner is a doctor takes care of her but gradually something separates them. Because he didn’t experience that.

It takes time for the person who has experienced this trauma and this time is different from that of everyone else. Many couples separate either gradually or later because there are sometimes also startle reactions. There is an impact on cognitive and emotional functioning. And obviously an anxiety which is more important.

Depression, addictions, etc. other psychopathological elements can also develop. »

What does society in general need to know about supporting people who survive an attack?

“We communicate. We have done quite a few conferences and we continue to do so. The Mémoire 13-Novembre website allows you to provide a lot of information. There were books in particular Memory and trauma (Dunod editions) which focuses on changes in memory in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Memory is also damaged in these people. The trauma will modify their autobiographical memory. He becomes the center and they end up defining themselves first of all by this event.

We are currently working on a guide that can be given to both potential victims and those around them. There will be information on this pathology, its clinical expressions, potential therapies… And messages. Above all, ensure that the person does not remain isolated. »