He wants to “denazify” Ukraine, convinces himself that NATO plans to attack it, swears that he does not bomb civilians, before accusing the Ukrainians of using them as human shields during … bombardments. Vladimir Putin’s statements, incoherent and contemptuous of all reality, worry many observers, up to the Elysée, which judges his speeches “paranoid”. Does Vladimir Putin suffer from mental illness? No psychiatrist interviewed by L’Express would risk such a diagnosis without an interview with him. “To deviate from this rule would be fair medicine, sweeps Dr. Guillaume, psychiatrist at the Paris XI center. During a medical examination, the patient expresses the symptoms he feels and the doctor observes the apparent signs, but he does not It is not possible to access the symptoms by listening to a speech or watching a video, as for the apparent signs, they can be explained in so many different ways…”
Still, many citizens wonder how far the Russian president can go, while his country has the nuclear bomb. If a certain diagnosis is not possible, is it not possible to put forward hypotheses in order to respond to these legitimate fears? Dr. Guillaume, not very fond of exercise, recalls that psychiatrists are already fighting every day against a very strong stigmatization of mental illness. Putting forward hypotheses in order to describe Vladimir Putin in a less than stellar way would therefore be “absurd” according to him, since it would contribute to this stigmatization. The psychiatrist also believes that the inconsistency of the Russian president’s recent statements could be explained by the fact that he is simply no longer addressing the outside world, but the Russian people to whom he presents his vision of history.
“It is always possible to analyze his posture, his gaze or the way he interacts with his advisers on television and we all have hypotheses in mind, but that is not enough to make a diagnosis”, abounds Michel David, president from the French Federation of Psychiatry. The latter also considers that the language barrier increases the difficulty of the diagnosis: even a good translation does not make it possible to restore the turns of phrase or expressions which help to understand and analyze the apparent signs. However, one of the fundamental principles of the doctor’s ethics is not to affirm without certainty and to remain cautious in his declarations. “This has not always been the case during the Covid-19 pandemic and we have all seen the disorder sown in the population and the controversies provoked by certain teachers”, he regrets. Michel David is convinced of this: it will be historians who will be able to best answer the question of Putin’s mental health, since they will have access to declassified documents and statements from relatives who will speak more freely once the master of the Kremlin will no longer be.
The paranoia hypothesis seems ‘solid’
In the entourage of the Russian president, however, tongues are beginning to loosen. According to some officials and parliamentarians who confided in the Russian journalist Farida Rustamova, Putin would be persuaded to be constantly insulted and attacked, his morale would deteriorate day by day and he would henceforth restrict information to a very closed circle. “It is a paranoia that reaches the threshold of absurdity”, would have even slipped a relative. “Like many leaders – especially the most authoritarian – the Russian president displays great self-confidence, a high opinion of himself and a desire to change the world. All this is not necessarily negative, but at home, there is also this obsession with crushing others, as well as a pronounced narcissism: this reveals a real megalomaniacal personality, analyzes Antoine Pelissolo, psychiatrist, university professor and head of department at the CHU Henri-Mondor in Créteil. could suggest a paranoid personality, especially since he manifests other aspects of it, such as distrust of allies and enemies, but we lack the information to make this diagnosis.” Not to mention that his statements could perfectly fit into a communication strategy aimed at making people believe that he is paranoid, a staging to scare his enemies.
While he partly shares the caution of his colleagues, psychiatrist and clinician Patrick Lemoine, author of The mental health of those who made the world (Odile Jacob), go further. “I have three hypotheses, the first is that Vladimir Putin is a perfectly normal and intelligent patriot who wants to make Russia great again, but opting for an imperialist and expansionist policy is not a psychiatric pathology, he begins. he. The second is that he is very paranoid. He also repeats constantly: “You are threatening me, your presence at my borders means that you want to invade and massacre us” and I am not sure that is only rhetoric. And while all the great paranoiacs show remarkable logic, there is always a loophole. Putin, for example, sends troops to Ukraine and at the same time threatens to use the nuclear bomb there. If the Add to this his coldness, the immobility of his face, his lack of humor, his megalomania, the fact that he doubts nothing, the hypothesis seems solid.
The last guess is based on a simple observation: the recent swelling of his face. “It could be botox or a cosmetic operation that went wrong, but given its means, it would be surprising; otherwise, the use of cortisone could explain these swellings. This drug prescribed in case of illness serious as cancer or multiple sclerosis is known to remove inhibition, increase megalomania and impulsivity,” he says. None of the three hypotheses is reassuring. If he is a great patriot, Vladimir Putin will continue the war until he gets what he wants. If he is very paranoid, he will do the same. As for the potential cortisone treatment, it could be interrupted, “unless he suffers from a chronic illness”, adds Patrick Lemoine.
The specialist, who will soon publish Evil Geniuses (Odile Jacob) in which he reserves a chapter for Vladimir Poutine, nevertheless tries to bring a glimmer of hope, recalling that Emmanuel Macron spends nearly two hours on the phone with his Russian counterpart every day. “It’s unheard of in wartime, almost grotesque, but in the event that Vladimir Putin suffers from psychosis, perhaps this link could save him from doing the worst. And if Dr Macron’s efforts end by paying?” he asks, a bit sarcastic.