Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1390470

Narration of a collective traumatic event according to the presence of PTSD and considering the social function

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 INSERM-EPHE-UNICAEN-U1077-NIMH, Caen, Lower Normandy, France
  • 2 University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France
  • 3 Service universitaire de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, Rennes, France
  • 4 Université Panthéon Sorbonne, Paris, Ile-de-France, France
  • 5 École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France
  • 6 UMR8209 Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique de la Sorbonne (CESSP), Paris, Île-de-France, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Individuals suffering from PTSD recount the traumatic event using perceptual, emotional and sensory details. Memorization and recall of individual events are influenced by the individual's social function, i.e., what they are willing and able to share about themselves with others and the society. While the influence of PTSD on narratives has been studied, few studies have measured the effect of social function on the link between PTSD and narrative. Objectives: The aim was to measure trauma narratives of the terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015, according to the presence of PTSD and considering the social function (civil or professional) at the time of exposure. Methods: Thirty-seven civilians (including 16 women and 21 men) and 22 first responders (including 7 women and 15 men) exposed to the terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015, in France recounted their experiences. Textometric analyses were carried out to characterize the narrative lexicons of the 4 groups (civilians with PTSD; civilians without PTSD, first responders with PTSD; first responders without PTSD). Results: The narratives of civilians with or without PTSD contain emotional details of the event. The narratives of first responders with and without PTSD contain details of intervention and team. The narratives of civilians and first responders with PTSD contain elements of social and family contacts. The narratives of civilians and first responders without PTSD contains elements of collective control and aid. Civilians with PTSD mostly use the "I" in narratives, while first responders without PTSD mostly use the "we" narrative and the notion of colleague. Conclusion: Trauma narratives of individuals exposed to the same collective traumatic event who have developed PTSD are characterized by information about social and family contexts. Trauma narratives of individuals without PTSD show a sense of control and collective support. Associated with PTSD, the social function during the event influences the narrative, involving self-centered statements (first person singular, individual reactions) for exposed civilians, and allo-centered statements (colleagues, victims) for exposed professionals. This study underlines the importance of considering the inclusion of reference to the social group to which one belongs when testifying about peritraumatic experiences to others.

    Keywords: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), narratives, social, Identity, Control

    Received: 04 Mar 2024; Accepted: 12 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Charretier, Eustache, LAISNEY, Dayan, Fraisse, De La Sayette, Gagnepain, Chakli, Klein-Peschanski, Peschanski and Quinette. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Peggy Quinette, INSERM-EPHE-UNICAEN-U1077-NIMH, Caen, Lower Normandy, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.