The government plans to build more Athos houses, places to live in which former soldiers who are victims of post-traumatic stress can rebuild themselves. Today there are four in France.
Relearning to live, after having experienced the traumas of a field of war. They are more than 3,000 according to the government’s estimate: French soldiers with psychological consequences linked to their missions in Africa or the Middle East. To allow them to rebuild, the government presents Wednesday, May 10 its “injured plan”, which plans in particular to increase the number of so-called “Athos” houses. In these places of life, a few dozen soldiers treat their troubles and regain their footing thanks to daily activities. For the moment, there are four in France, including one in Bordeaux, where franceinfo visited.
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It’s an old boat that they are renovating together on these shipyards, on the banks of the Garonne. “We are in the process of redoing the front of the cabin of the boat”explains Pascal, in the middle of sanding, the workshop he has chosen for several weeks. “It allows me to get my head out of the water a bit, above all”, he confides. After 24 years in the army and 16 missions abroad, Pascal lost his footing. “I have been exposed to several potentially traumatic events and three years ago I was declared to have post-traumatic syndrome. Some of my comrades who have done exactly the same missions as me are fine, they have no problem. Me it fell to me on it”, he confides before adding, hesitating: “If it hadn’t been for this support, I most certainly wouldn’t be here to talk to you about it…”
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Allow soldiers to recreate social ties
A few kilometers away, a house called “Athos”, like the resilient musketeer of Alexandre Dumas, therefore takes over from the caregivers and the hospital. The structure helps these former soldiers to climb the slope thanks to kayak outings, artistic workshops or manual work. “The places are beautiful and that makes sense”, says Pierre Knecht, the director. It is a warm, benevolent living space where everyone has their own room, but shares common areas.
“The objective is to recreate the link, to bring them out of isolation and to live togetherexplains Pierre Knecht. We find pleasure in the collective and in the social bond.” Here, each mentally injured person comes at their own pace. “It goes from someone who arrives with a small box of canelés or madeleines to share a coffee, and who stays chatting for 20 minutes, half an hour, to someone who spends the whole week and who goes on for several weeks… With this obligation to take the weekend off so that the house does not become a place in which we end up isolating ourselves.
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Modest about what they had to face in uniform, the former soldiers find here more than a shoulder. “In the outside world, there is such a huge misunderstanding, testifies Christophe, member of the house for two years. It’s a totally parallel world… The only people who really understand us are our comrades. This house is where we are who we are.” Christophe continues to come here one week a month. His war traumas still sometimes prevent him from taking the train, or going shopping: “There was a time when I wasn’t well at allhe slips. The main problem is the crowd, there is also the fact of being in a confined place.”
“When you’re at the checkout in the supermarket and there’s one person in front and one person behind you, you feel trapped and you end up dropping the groceries on the carpet and going sweaty with a feeling of chest tightness. “
Christophe, former soldierat franceinfo
He managed to find work, in mechanics in the public service. Christophe is a model, says the director of him. “Here, we pick up and we completely detach”, he said, playing a few notes on the house piano. But he knows that everything is fragile. “That’s what Peter tells us: ‘Here you are life members.’ It’s not a cure, you won’t forget what happened, but you can learn to live with it.” So that more former soldiers can follow this path, the government wants ten “Athos” houses like this to exist in 2030, in mainland France and overseas.