Du retrait à la reconquête : pratiquer la ville après un épisode psychotique

Abstract

Abstract. The article aims to provide a better understanding of the urban practices of young people living with a diagnosis of psychosis while recovering. I show the way practices are adjusted according to the temporal dynamics of psychosis. I argue that the continuous variability of symptoms over the recovery period implies alternately practices of withdrawal and reconquest of the urban space. I first outline participants' reconquest of urban spaces, which starts in well-known places and then extends to less familiar ones. In doing so, I point out the diversity of urban spaces inhabited by participants during the recovery process which includes institutional, private, as well as public places. I then outline the various material, relational and sensory resources available in these spaces. I show how participants use them according to the temporal dynamics. I finally highlight the way participants are gradually getting involved in the relationship with a large array of resources as the intensity of symptoms is reducing. My analysis is based on a three months ethnography in a therapeutic institution in Lausanne.