ALCOHOLIC PSYCHOSIS
47 year-old woman, chronic alcoholic, emergency admission after a confused episode where she was fleeing imaginary attackers: "the Gauls"
So that morning...actually this had been going on since last Wednesday
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - four days in a row, in the evenings
Each night they were loitering suspiciously by my house, and we were starting to get fed up
I told my husband: "Jacque, do something!" But he just told me to stop bothering him
But they were doing all sorts of strange things...Meddling with the doors - taking them off the hinges and breaking them
Then all of a sudden they brought in some contraption...
and music was coming from it...
which started bothering me even more, it was really getting on my nerves, and made me even more tense than before
But at that moment, I was still mostly ok
But that was when their leader spotted me. He very clearly saw me
But for the time being they just continued their activities...
Then on Friday morning he came again, like I said - for the 4th day in a row
as I said: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
and so he came again and he had a mask on
and he'd already put something on my pillow...it's difficult to explain...
a head, an animal head! To scare me!
I was laying there wondering what was on the pillow next to me...
he told me: "don't worry, it is nothing, keep sleeping"
so I did...But next thing you know, he was asking me for something
You can probably guess what he wanted...
I told him: "I have my husband for that, and I get more than enough" and told him to get lost
And I went and told Jacque about it
"this is what he wanted!" [gestures lifting up her nightgown]
Good thing I didn't completely expose myself, because they thought I was putting on a show for them!
And that is when he called...he called his father
one of the Gauls [an ancient tribe that lived in France]
I can't tell you what street he lives on because I don't know Paris very well
But he made the phone call
and so the father came. He also had something on his face
like a wire mesh, and he also had a shotgun, and a big knife that he wanted to stab me with
Thankfully I was able to fight him off
Because if I hadn't, I can tell you...I wouldn't be here today
I wouldn't be here at all [gestures throat being slit]
So who was it again?
The Gauls
The Gauls?
Is that someone you knew from before?
I didn't know them. I don't know these people. I didn't know anything
And they came to your house on Monday?
Yes
And what exactly happened on that Monday again?
No, not Monday. Tuesday. I told you. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
So what transpired on Tuesday?
That is when they came and when they did the stuff with the doors, with both doors
but all of this other stuff happened on Friday
That's when...
They ran after me...
I didn't even have a chance to get dressed or anything
I ran through the fields, ran for my life
I called the police
the police came and found me, and that's when they brought me here
How long have you been here now?
So it's been...it's Monday today
I've been here since Saturday
And since you came here, have they bothered you?
No, they haven't bothered me at all
I am feeling much better here. The nurses, the patients, they are all so lovely
Do you know why they attacked you?
I have no idea
Although I overheard something when he was making that phone call
and I heard it again when he went to see a guy to borrow his shotgun
He thought I couldn't hear, but my hearing is perfect...
...and come to think of it, I have seen this man before, but I don't know his name
although I can tell you where you might find him
...so I overheard that he needed to borrow the shotgun, because he must "catch them"
I am telling the absolute truth, and I will keep on telling my story again and again
even if I have to go to court. I will go to court
But why were they after you?
I don't know why they targeted me. For all I know they knew about me as much as I knew about them - that is: nothing
And your husband? Was he worried as well?
He visited me the day before yesterday
I wasn't doing well. I didn't know what was going on and why I was in the hospital
It is my first time here
I've never been here before. I was at the "Larry-Boisiere" hospital once in the past, I had an operation, stomach surgery
Now they tell me I need surgery again because I have a hernia
I've also been to the "Saumur" hospital
but I have never been to this hospitals
Both doctors have said that I was a nervous wreck when I came in
I'll admit it, I am a very anxious person
Since when?
Since birth
How old are you?
47
Where do you live?
Where do I live?
Yes
I don't have a home anymore, nothing's left. They demolished it. It was next to the Seine
is that so?
They completely bulldozed it. That's what my husband told me
Your husband told you that when he visited you?
Yes, that's when he told me. Well, he didn't tell me, but...I heard him tell the nurses
Was your house slated for demolition?
No, it should have never been torn down, but they did it
Who do you mean by "they"?
I don't know. I don't understand their purpose in demolishing my flat
Before those 4 days, before Tuesday
did you ever have the feeling that you were being watched?
No. Never
So you suddenly became a target?
Suddenly. Yes
What was it that they were doing that first Tuesday again?
Tuesday? That's when they first came, in the evening and spent the night
They stayed the whole night, up until the next morning
Did it wake you up?
I couldn't sleep at all, I was sleeping with one eye open
I was very worried
And when you told your husband about these worries...Jacque is your husband, correct?
Jacque, yes. He told me that I was annoying him
And that no one was after me. But he can see the truth now...
So Tuesday, you said they were outside your house, but not inside, right?
Tuesday. They started all this on Tue, Wed, Thurs and Fri. And Friday night was when it all went down, the attack
What happened during day on Friday?
Nothing unusual, it was a typical day
They only act in the night. All through the night until the morning
And so what happened?
They came in, just like that
They came into your house?
They came inside
Just one of them or a few people?
There was 4 of them
What were they wearing?
Normal clothes, they looked like regular guys
They were wearing masks, you said?
Yes they had masks
What did the masks look like?
Like... like cat's heads
[unintelligible]
And what did they say?
They didn't say anything
Absolutely nothing
And your husband saw them too?
Yes he saw, he could see someone was there
What did your husband do or say?
What could he say in that situation? He couldn't say anything
They didn't attack him, they were only after me
But who sent them? And why? I haven't a clue
I ask myself these same questions...Why me?
Were they perhaps accusing you of something?
No. But even though they didn't explicitly ask for sex...I could tell it was on their mind
Their leader asked me if I knew who they were...
Because they were the Gauls
I told them I don't know who they are, I've never even seen them...Never seen them before
And I never spoke to them before
On previous days, they made noise and broke things - but you didn't see them?
oh, sure I saw them, I saw when they took the door down, both sides of the double door
Apart from that, I never saw them before
And they didn't even really do anything too alarming until that Friday
Had you ever seen the masks they wore, before then?
No, I never saw any masks either. I would be lying if I said I did
And you mentioned some wire, what was that about?
One of them had wire mesh on his face, the one with the shotgun. A wire mesh mask, but why?
He was the one that was sent to kill me