Channel 13 of Argentina released images of an interview conducted in 2019 to Pope Francis, in which he revealed that he consulted a psychiatrist during the last Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983) and exposed himself about his mental health.
The interview was conducted by the Argentine journalist Nelson Castro, who works on Channel 13 and all news, from Buenos Aires, and wrote the book Pope health.
The book, published in 2021, includes a chapter on Francisco that contains data that the Pope himself referred to in that interview.
According to the newspaper Clarionwhich belongs to the homonym group – also of the channel 13 stations and all news – the Pope asked Castro that the images of the report were not disseminated until after his death.
In the dialogue with the journalist, Jorge Mario Bergoglio said he never made psychoanalysis, but that he did consult a psychiatrist for a few months during the last Argentine dictatorship, when he served as superior of the Society of Jesus in the South American country.
“They were difficult times because the dictatorship was, the problem of rescuing people, the hidden people … there were things that I did not know how to drive well and went to see a psychiatrist and helped me with explanations, advice. It helped me a lot,” he said.
He explained that this consultation helped him “clarify certain things” and address certain “fears” that came, for example, when carrying people hidden in their car for the dictatorship and having to pass several military controls.
He argued that neurosis “are a lifelong companions.”
“Once I read a book with which I laughed out: Habit of being neurotic. That is, it is convenient to know where the spiritual bones clash. Neurosis is wanting to do everything quickly. No, stop. You know them (to neurosis), ”he said.
Regarding anxiety, he said he had “quite tamed” and had managed to “not let her in.”
During the report, Francisco told some aspects of the 2013 conclave and assured that he felt “peace” in the voting rounds that concluded with his choice as the high pontiff.
Asked about what afflicted him, he replied: “The pain of others. The boys who are dying of hunger and in countries that could solve the problem. The soldiers. To me the problem of the children touches me a lot. And the problem of the elderly, also. The abandoned elders.”
Francisco said that, when sleeping, he did not usually have dreams, but if he had them, he dreamed “beautiful things” or “memories”, and that he slept “like a trunk”, without taking any medication.
“At about 9 pm I go to bed, I read until 22, I turn off the light at 22 and 4 I’m raised. I wake up alone. I have the alarm, but I always wake up three minutes before the alarm sounds, because the brain has a special clock,” he said.