In Bordeaux, the Intimate project explores the brakes and facilitators of intimate relationships for people with disabilities. Ultimately, it will be a matter of developing concrete solutions to improve support practices.
In psychic disability, intimate relationships (IR), including sexual, romantic and marital relationships, are positively associated with the quality of life of users and perceived as facilitating recovery. However, the people concerned report great difficulty in developing and maintaining IR, which generates dissatisfaction and currently unmet support needs. As part of a doctorate in psychology directed by Pr Antoinette Prouteau, Meryl Caiada, research assistant at the CH de Jonzac (Charentes-Maritimes), is developing the Intimate project, a participatory research aimed at improving support practices for people in a situation of psychic handicap in the field of IR.
In a first phase, the program focuses on reliable scientific data on IR in mental disability, their obstacles and facilitators.
According to the international literature, including a systematic review (1), there are currently two interventions intended for single people with mental disabilities who plan to develop IR (2,3).
A second study carried out in collaboration with the Clubhouse of Bordeaux, focuses on the stigmatization of IR in mental disabilities, identified as a major obstacle by the people concerned. The first results indicate that IRs are indeed the targets of many stereotypes (“People with schizophrenia are not able to carry out couple projects”) active in the general population, but also among mental health professionals and health students. By 2024, Intimate aims to develop concrete solutions to meet the needs expressed by the various players.
1– Caiada, M., Felix, S., Guionnet, S., Valery, K. M., Bonilla, J., Destaillats, J. M., & Prouteau, A. Promoting intimate relationships in severe mental illness: a systematic review of interventions. Submitted for publication
2– Hache-Labelle, C., Abdel-Baki, A., Lepage, M., Laurin, A.-S., Guillou, A., Francoeur, A., Bergeron, S., & Lecomte, T. (2021). Romantic relationship group intervention for men with early psychosis: A feasibility, acceptability and potential impact pilot study. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 15(4), 753 761.
3– Dubreucq, M., Lysaker, P. H., & Dubreucq, J. (2023). A qualitative exploration of stakeholders’ perspectives on the experiences, challenges, and needs of persons with serious mental illness as they consider finding a partner or becoming parent. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1066309.
• Contact : Meryl Caiada, meryl.caiada@u-bordeaux.fr