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From the time of Hippocrates, Galien and the first alienists, physicians have observed the astonishing “oscillation” between mental illness and somatic illness. Yet, epidemiological studies during the twentieth century have globally shown a strong “surmortality” and a certain “comorbidity” in psychotic states. The study of a group of psychotic cases who had been followed for a long period of time showed, beyond their level of mentalization, the effectiveness of psychotic defenses in their equilibrium with the environment.