La domestication de la sémiologie : proposition d’une organisation graphique du thesaurus semeioticus psychiatrique chez l’adulte

Abstract

With this article, we propose to present, for the first time, a graphic, visual, dynamic, hierarchical, and easily managed organization of all the adult clinical uses of semiological terms (clinical manifestations expressions), as proposed by the Association for the Teaching of Psychiatric Semiology (AESP). Our intent is to make it not just a pedagogical and pragmatic tool, but also a reflective and critical one, for the use of psychiatric semiology in medicine. The proposal of this article is motivated more toward a graphical formalization than an elucidation of the theoretical foundations of adult psychiatric semiology. We discuss the interest of the graphical visualization of the semiological structure in maintaining a critical approach and promoting the dynamic evolution of the Thesaurus Semeioticus, through its implications for the teaching of descriptive psychopathology language to students, and its significance for the necessary articulation with nosographic and psychopathological knowledge. The graphic visualization of the semiological apparatus can indeed help to clarify the vocabulary choices made by the psychiatric community and the possibilities for a rigorous evolution based on scientific knowledge and clinical practice.