L’usage des émotions lors des interactions psychiatriques et gériatriques

This article proposes an analysis of the role played by emotions in medical consultation. It is based on the comparison of interactions between patients and professionals in two geriatric wards (specialized memory consultations) and in an adolescent day care hospital. Five types of emotion are then distinguished according to their uses : those which are conflicting, related to face work, solicited, projected and validated. This leads to further examination of the emotional dimension of medical interactions, which are the theatre of an “obligatory expression of feelings.