The Case Of Aimée, The Paranoia Of Self-punishment

The case of Aimée is one of the best known cases in the fields of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. This is mainly due to two reasons. The first is that this fundamental case proved Jacques Lacan’s thesis. The second is that it represented a significant cornerstone in the study of paranoid psychosis.

Jacques Lacan is probably the best-known psychoanalyst after Sigmund Freud. His research contributed to the progress of classical psychoanalysis. Aimée’s case was a study that made him a well-known new and bright thinker in this field.

The case of Aimée is also famous because it caused controversy over how the treatment was carried out and how it was presented to the scientific community. It also made headlines because of the consequences it had. This was undoubtedly an interesting chapter in the history of mental health.

Marguerite Pantaine aka Lacanin Aimée

Marguerite Pantaine remained in history as “Aiméena”. One of the books he wrote had a character named Aimée. It was also the name Lacan gave him in his dissertation. She was a Catholic woman born in a farmhouse in France. Apparently he began to develop feelings of persecution at the age of 28.

This all started during her first pregnancy. He thought some people wanted to hurt him and started behaving violently. She had a miscarriage and was convinced that her friend was responsible for it.

She recovered, but she began to feel persecution again during her second pregnancy. And so he did not allow anyone to see his son Didier during the first five months of this life.

His haunting misconceptions increased. Thus, he was first admitted to a psychiatric hospital. After his release, he went to live alone in Paris. Then he began to think that the young actress Huguette Duflos was a person who wanted to harm her son.

He even wrote letters to the Prince of Wales about his suspicions. Finally, in April 1913, Marguerite attacked the young actor with a knife. He was imprisoned for this reason.

The case of Aimée An interesting development

After assessing his mental state, psychologists sent Marguerite to Santa Ana Mental Hospital. There Jacques Lacan took care of him for a year and a half. His symptoms disappeared from the moment he came to the hospital. This led to Lacan’s conclusion that he suffered from “paranoia of self-punishment”.

In other words, punishment made him heal. He suffered from unconscious guilt, and after his arrest he no longer had the need for delusions.

The case of Aimée had a special development and outcome. Jacques Lacania was the scorer. In fact, the name Jacques called him, “Aimée,” means “beloved” in French. It’s weird that he called him that. He had no romantic relationship with Marguerite, but from his situation Jacques found the key to developing his dissertation on psychosis.

Marguerite wrote novels that no one dared to publish. During treatment, he gave his writings to Lacan, who never returned them. Ironically, Marguerite became famous for Lacan’s research.

At the beginning of her treatment, Marguerite said some people wanted to steal her writing. He accused author Pierre Binot of stealing his ideas.

Unexpected end

According to Jacques Lacan, Marguerite’s cure was simply his punishment for attempted murder. Some of his delusions returned later, but they did not complicate his life. He never returned to a psychiatric hospital, which confirmed the result of Lacan’s thesis.

Surprising in this story is that Marguerite’s son Didier became a psychoanalyst. He stated in his autobiography that his mother was really lonely because of her condition. Not knowing that the famous case of Aimée was his mother, he went to Lacan’s office for psychoanalysis.

As he marveled at the similarity of Aimée’s case to his mother, he found that “Aimée” and his mother were one and the same. He complained to Lacan that he had not told him this.

Didier tried to get back his mother’s novels, but failed. This story has a happy ending because even though he never read his mother’s books, he became a writer.