Dr jules falret biography

French psychiatrist

Jean-Pierre Falret (French:[ʒɑ̃pjɛʁfalʁɛ]; 26 April 1794 – 28 October 1870) was a French psychiatrist. He was born and died in Marcilhac-sur-Célé.^[1]

In 1811 he began his medical studies in Paris, where he was inspired by the work of Philippe Pinel (1745–1826) and Jean Étienne Dominique Esquirol (1772–1840).

In 1819 he obtained his medical doctorate, afterwards establishing a mental institution with Félix Voisin (1794–1872) at Vanves (1822). In 1831 he was appointed chef de l’hospice at the Salpêtrière, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1867.

In 1851 he published an article describing a condition he called la folie circulaire (French pronunciation:[lafɔlisiʁkylɛʁ] – circular insanity), of which a patient would experience cycles of manic excitement and cycles of depression.^[2] Falret's description is considered to be the earliest documented diagnosis of what today is known as a bi