Accidents vasculaires cérébraux : approche psychopathologique et approche neuropsychologique. À propos d'un cas : M. J.

M.J. was the victim of a road accident (with mild brain injury) which occurred due to a cerebral vascular incident (right lateral hemisphere) which resulted in illness while he was at the wheel of his car. Following hospitalisation in a neurological ward, M.J. was admitted to a functional re-education centre (DIVIO) where he benefited from multidisciplinary care. He exhibited numerous disorders: cognitive (disorders of the executive functions as well as of the attentional and visuo-constructive capabilities), behavioural and psychopathological (obsessive disorders, depression, sub manic state). Two approaches, that of neuropsychology and that of clinical psychology, provide different interpretations of the observed disorders. The neuropsychological approach makes it possible to explain the cognitive and behavioural disorders in terms of the neurobiological functioning of the frontal lobes and their interaction with others brain structures. The psychopathological approach makes use of the concepts of psychic trauma, posttraumatic stress states, the decompensation of a previous neurotic personality and reactive depression in order to account for the symptoms observed in M.J. These two theoretical contributions will make it possible to reach a better understanding of the symptoms observes in M.J. This publication allows us to demonstrate the value of the interaction between these two disciplines and illustrate the importance of an interdisciplinary approach for the all-around care of this type of patients in re-education centres.