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Based on the work of Frantz Fanon, who was head of department at the Blida-Joinville psychiatric hospital, the psychological effects of the Algerian war of independence on the population are re-examined. The disorders observed, which Fanon diagnosed as “North African syndrome” and that range from anxiety to psychosis, are described here through accounts of several case-studies of patients hospitalized in his care. Based in part on these case-studies, as well as on his wider experience as a political theorist during a protracted colonial war, Fanon both defined and helped to extrapolate the colonial relationship and its direct and hidden psychological effects. The contribution of Octave Mannoni’s clinical and ethnographic work was in this respect important to Fanon regarding anticolonial thought. This article sheds new light on the “conflict” that pitched Fanon against Mannoni in the 1950s and what, precisely, were their differences at the time. We will see how certain ideas from Mannoni, taken up by Fanon, can—through rearticulation and adjusted perspective— advance new theories and perspectives on racism, its history, and current thinking on colonialism.