Mères démentes: et leurs filles?

When faced with the tandem situation of a demented mother and an exhausted daughter, the principal caregiver must adapt managing practices in an appropriate manner. The daughter presents a succession of conditions from rejection, guilt, to identification in a context of rivalry tainted by bitterness. Between the overt and latent discourse, what can be heard? How is fantomization involved? We present here a clinical case which raises the question of the specificity of the mother-daughter relationship and the manner in which assistance can be given (considering with prudence the value of our interpretations) to both the mother and the daughter up through the final rupture signaled by death.