[The patient with Hansen's disease confronts his distress].

This article is about the effect of Hansen's disease on the personality of 29 patients of the Institute of Applied Leprology of Dakar, Foundation of the Order of Malta. This approach to the distress of these patients was done by an inquiry based on sociocultural and clinical variables and compared to a study composed of tubercular and psychiatric patients. This study reports four distress levels (loss of identity, loss of object, forlornness, culpability) which are distinguished by sex and age. The actual analysis of the experience of this distress shows the importance of support of the traditional representation of these leprous patients' psychology.