'It's because of you that I went mad!': Geneva course revives historic psychiatrist-patient clash

In Geneva, François Nadin is leading a unique course that delves into the principles of anti-psychiatry by resurrecting a pivotal historical confrontation. The centerpiece of this exploration is the reenactment of a 1967 session, famously documented, where a young patient directly accused his psychoanalyst of causing his mental distress.

Nadin explains his choice to revisit this intense therapeutic breakdown: "Because this young man touched me." The patient, only 29 at the time, had been undergoing therapy three times a week for fifteen years with little apparent result. The recording captures his profound anger and sense of powerlessness, emotions that Nadin identifies as the catalyst for the anti-psychiatry movement.

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Because this young man touched me.

This dramatic reenactment, part of a larger performance titled "Ah! A brief history of the primal scream," is not merely a historical curiosity. It serves as a dramatic illustration of a moment that fundamentally reshaped the discourse around psychiatric treatment. Nadin uses this event to explore complex ideas, referencing thinkers like Deleuze and concepts such as "desiring machines" and "animal becoming."

The course and performance are designed for those intrigued by the foundational shifts in psychiatric thought. Nadin's approach aims to bring to life the raw emotional and intellectual currents that challenged established psychological paradigms, offering a visceral understanding of the anti-psychiatry movement's origins and impact.

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He was 29 years old when he staged this coup in the office of his therapist whom he had been seeing three times a week for fifteen years without result, and we can clearly feel all his anger and his powerlessness. It is this recording, moreover, that set fire to the powder keg of anti-psychiatry.