[A Grand Lady and two self-made men: testimony of a patient-investigator]

The psychological distress of a person, a parent in this case, can have very significant impact on family dynamics and the fate of all family members. They may become unwitting experts of mental health, by accompanying necessity and with their own vulnerabilities, sometimes trying to understand misunderstanding. This story is that of a patient-investigator who questioned the impact that mental illness has had on his professional life and his career choices. Going back to distant childhood memories, this exercise has proved to be an introspective work or observation of an individual conscience by itself. The fruit of this reflection is the story of a double conversion, spiritual and scientific, and this attempt to find sense and meaning to this personal journey becomes a socially engaged ethics of research in mental health and psychiatry.