Malgré l’interdit qui le condamne, l’inceste traverse les siècles et les générations ; il se perpétue, dans le silence et le secret familial et social. L’inceste a le pouvoir de se faire oublier, de disparaître de la conscience collective comme celui d’échapper à la conscience du sujet lui-même. Cet étrange « oubli » interroge tout autant qu’il divise. La communauté scientifique parle d’« amnésie dissociative » ou d’« amnésie traumatique » pour qualifier ce phénomène. Notre recherche vise à définir les différents critères cliniques au fondement de l’amnésie traumatique survenue dans des contextes d’abus incestueux. Nous nous appuierons, pour cela, sur la réalité des rencontres, des témoignages, sur la souffrance réelle et subjective des victimes qui ont souffert – ou souffrent encore – d’amnésie traumatique. Nous nous appuierons sur le témoignage de 400 victimes d’inceste, hommes et femmes, âgés de 18 à 72 ans, qui ont accepté de participer à notre étude épidémiologique nationale réalisée entre novembre 2022 et mars 2023. Notre méthodologie s’appuie sur la passation d’un questionnaire très détaillé (une centaine de questions) diffusé auprès de plusieurs associations d’aide aux victimes d’incestes ainsi qu’à de nombreux psychologues cliniciens. Ces partenaires ont pu proposer à leurs patients ou adhérents de contribuer à notre recherche. L’enquête s’est suivie d’une série d’entretiens cliniques individuels avec 30 volontaires, choisis de manière aléatoire parmi les répondants à l’enquête. Nous avons ainsi pu mettre en évidence l’influence de trois facteurs déterminants dans la manifestation de symptômes d’amnésie traumatique dans les contextes incestueux : (1) la singularité du lien avec l’auteur des abus, (2) l’âge des victimes au début des abus et (3) la nature des actes incestueux.

Despite the prohibition that condemns it, incest spans centuries and generations. Literature abounds with writings denouncing it and yet, incest remains and is perpetuated, often in silence and family and social secrecy. Incest has the power to be forgotten, to disappear from the collective consciousness as well as to escape the consciousness of the subject himself. It is this “disappearance” that we are talking about in this article, this strange “forgetting” – which is not really one – which questions as much as it divides. The scientific community speaks of “traumatic amnesia” or “dissociative amnesia”, defined in the DSM-5 as “an inability to remember certain potentially traumatic experiences, in their entirety or partially, and for a certain duration ranging from a few days to several years” – this incapacity cannot be attributed to taking toxic substances, head trauma, or a neurological disorder. Our research aims to define the different clinical criteria underlying traumatic amnesia occurring in the context of incestuous abuse. Several studies conducted since the late 1980s have highlighted the high rate of traumatic amnesia among victims of childhood sexual trauma. It also appears that victims of incest are systematically overrepresented among those who have suffered from traumatic amnesia. Some of them have reported a form of complete traumatic amnesia, others a partial form, and still others have never suffered from traumatic amnesia in their lives. Therefore, we will not attempt to fuel the decades-old debate between proponents of the “false memory” theory and defenders of the amnesia mechanism. We will draw on the reality of encounters, testimonies, and the real and subjective suffering of victims who have suffered from complete traumatic amnesia and/or who still suffer from partial traumatic amnesia. We will draw on the testimony of 400 victims of incest, men and women, aged 18 to 72, who agreed to participate in our national epidemiological study, carried out between November 2022 and March 2023. Our objective was to identify potential factors associated with the presence of traumatic amnesia in contexts of incestuous abuse. Our methodology is based on the administration of a very detailed questionnaire (around a hundred questions) distributed to several associations providing assistance to victims of incest as well as to numerous clinical psychologists. These partners were able to offer their patients or members to contribute to our research. The survey was followed by a series of individual clinical interviews with 30 volunteers, chosen randomly from among the survey respondents. We were thus able to highlight the influence of three determining factors in the manifestation of symptoms of traumatic amnesia in incestuous contexts: (1) the uniqueness of the link with the perpetrator of the abuse, (2) the age of the victims at the beginning of the abuse and (3) the nature of the incestuous acts. This article attempts to link an Anglo-Saxon approach to the phenomenon of traumatic amnesia and a psychoanalytic analysis of the intrapsychic processes at work in the manifestation of the symptom of amnesia following incestuous abuse. Very often divided in the literature, these two perspectives, here, crossed, will allow us to make visible the extent of the phenomenon and to identify the main associated factors, while discussing the underlying intrapsychic mechanisms. Also, as a clinical psychologist and forensic expert, I will propose a psychodynamic interpretation of the results and present the clinical and judicial implications of this research. We are faced with the need to rethink the reception of victims when they present themselves several years or even several decades after the reported events. It is essential that the actors of the judicial system are aware of the symptoms of traumatic amnesia, in its various forms, to gather the victims’ often disorganized narrative, without calling question the reliability of their story. It is important to understand that the gaps in the victims’ narrative and memories are the direct consequences of traumatic amnesia resulting from the incestuous abuse suffered during their childhood.