Angoisse de mort et dépendance psychique chez les personnes âgées en institution : Cas du foyer Sainte Louise de Marillac.

Abstract

The problem posed by this study is that of the breakdown of the family bond. The aim is to analyze how separation anxiety and castration anxiety, potentiated by narcissistic collapse, induce psychic dependence in elderly people living in institutions. To answer the main research question: how does death anxiety induce psychic dependency in the elderly? We based on the link theory, which approaches the subject as a subject of links rather than as an individual subject, a singular plural subject. Unconscious alliances are the basis and bedrock of the psychic reality that binds us together. The subject of the bond in unconscious alliances is apprehended from the angle of three psychic spaces defined as follows: the intrapsychic or singular subject space, which refers to the bonds the subject, forges with the other members of his family and the group to which he belongs. Intersubjective space is the space of the link established between group members, which situates them within the whole. The trans-subjective space is that of groups, described as the psychic forms and processes called upon in states of crowd or mass, but also in institutional organizations. The bond is maintained in the form of a pact. An analysis of material collected from three residents of the “Foyer Sainte Louise de Marillac" shows that death anxiety induces psychic dependence in the elderly, who consequently opt for regression and somatization to avoid the overflow of anguish into the psyche. Based on this study, we question the relevance of the institution as a transitional setting capable of ensuring the containing function of elderly people far from their usual living environment in Africa.