Jules Séglas (May 31, 1856 – 1939) was a French

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

who practiced medicine at the Bicêtre and Salpêtrière Hospitals in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Early in his career, he was an assistant to famed

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurology, neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine Gleizes. Charcot ...

(1825–1893). Séglas' ideas and theories influenced a number of psychiatrists, including

Henri Ey Henri Ey (; 10 August 1900, Banyuls-dels-Aspres – 8 November 1977, Banyuls-dels-Aspres) was a French neurologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and philosopher. Biography Ey was born on 10 August 1900 in Banyuls-dels-Aspres, Pyrénées-Orientales, ...

(1900–1977) and

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and pu ...

(1901–1981). In 1908 he became president of the ''Societé Medico-Psychologique''. In the field of

psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era. Biological psychopatholo ...

he conducted studies of

delusion A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

s and pseudohallucinations, providing a detailed

nosology Nosology () is the branch of medical science that deals with the classification of diseases. Fully classifying a medical condition requires knowing its cause (and that there is only one cause), the effects it has on the body, the symptoms that ...

of these phenomena. He did extensive research of language and its relationship to

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. Here, he described

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

traits such as logorrhea, embolalia, near-

mutism Muteness or mutism () is defined as an absence of speech while conserving or maintaining the ability to hear the speech of others. Mutism is typically understood as a person's inability to speak, and commonly observed by their family members, caregi ...

automatic speech Formulaic language (previously known as automatic speech or embolalia) is a linguistic term for verbal expressions that are fixed in form, often non-literal in meaning with attitudinal nuances, and closely related to communicative-pragmatic contex ...

, alexia,

agraphia Agraphia is an acquired neurological disorder causing a loss in the ability to communicate through writing, either due to some form of motor dysfunction or an inability to spell. The loss of writing ability may present with other language or neur ...

, et al.; and how these behaviors take shape and interact in various psychiatric disorders.

Selected writings

* ''L’hallucination dans ses rapports avec la fonction du langage'', Progrès médical, 1888. * ''Des Troubles du langage chez les Aliénés'', Rueff Editeurs, Paris, 1892. * ''Leçons cliniques sur les maladies mentales et nerveuses (Salpêtrière (1887–94)'', Asselin et Houzeau, Paris, 1895 * ''Le délire de négations, in Du délire des négations aux idées d'énormité'',

Jules Cotard Jules Cotard (1 June 1840 – 19 August 1889) was a French physician who practiced neurology and psychiatry. He is best known for first describing the Cotard delusion, a patient's delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist or do not hav ...

& autres, L'Harmattan. * ''Sémiologie des affections mentales'' (

Semiology Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something, ...

of mental disorders), Chap. IV, Book I, 74-270, in

Gilbert Ballet Gilbert Ballet (March 29, 1853 – March 17, 1916) was a French psychiatrist, neurologist and historian who was a native of Ambazac in the department of Haute-Vienne. He studied medicine in Limoges and Paris, and subsequently became ''Chef d ...

's Traité de pathologie mentale.Anthology of French Language Psychiatric Texts
edited by Francois-Regis Cousin, Jean Garrabe, Denis Morozov

References

* ttp://www.idref.fr/032951477 IDREF.fr(bibliography) French psychiatrists 1856 births 1939 deaths {{France-psychiatrist-stub