TVA will air the documentary tomorrow Gaétan Girouard: Shockwave, about the star journalist who took his own life on January 14, 1999.
• Also read – Gaétan Girouard: Shockwave: “The documentation was very helpful for us”
Produced by Jean-Philippe Dion and directed by Maude Sabbagh (which avoids any sensationalism and is a touching tribute to this “giant with feet of clay”), this documentary asks a damn good question…
To what extent should we respect the professional secrecy that binds psychologists to their patients?
What is more important: respecting that bond at all costs… or doing everything possible to save the patient?
PRIVACY: HOW FAR?
In public, Girouard appeared to be made of concrete.
From forehead to head, to boldness, no closed door could resist him. Like Yves Poirier, who pursues the defendant with the tenacity of a remote-controlled missile fired from a North Korean submarine, the JE co-host could swing a microphone a millimeter from a boss' face without blinking or blinking to swallow saliva.
But in life Girouard was fragile.
He suffered from severe depression, the extent of which no one knew.
Gaétan Girouard had consulted a doctor a few days before his action.
If this doctor could have told Girouard's partner that her husband was depressed, could she have helped him? Would Gaétan Girouard have changed anything if he had consulted a psychologist and spoken to his partner?
Jean-Philippe Dion asks this question in his documentary.
An essential question that all people close to people who have committed suicide due to depression have asked themselves.
It's all well and good, the bond of confidentiality that binds doctors to their patients…
But when the person is at their worst, shouldn't that pact of secrecy be broken for the good of the patient?
At what point does this pact contribute to isolating the patient even more, locking him even more in his mental prison instead of helping him to break free?
“The government will have to respond because there are clearly problems with professional confidentiality in relation to mental health,” said Jean-Philippe Dion. It will be my workhorse for the next few years.”
BREAKING THE SILENCE
Imagine your minor daughter consults a psychologist because she is having dark thoughts. And you completely ignore this fact.
Shouldn't you know that your daughter is thinking about ending her life?
At the same time, if people who are at the end of their tether have the good instinct to seek counseling, it is precisely because they know that their discussions will remain confidential. And that we don't warn their loved ones (who in some cases may be part of the problem rather than the solution)…
In short, it's not easy.
But we have to talk about it. That's what makes this fantastic documentary that you must watch tomorrow at 9 p.m.
PS: If you have dark thoughts, please do not hesitate to call 1 866 APPELLE.