[Severe mental disorders: cure? What an idea!].

The evolution of mental disorders, notably the most severe forms such as schizophrenia, is a constant concern in terms of the necessary assessment of treatments and their efficiency, and to the human and economic cost of the 'chronicity' of the disorders. Many patients experience a positive evolution, evaluated in terms of subjective quality of life. However, the concept of recovery does not seem appropriate. The field of representations which the patient and the caregiver form with regard to the disease and its curability is an important element. The co-construction of the patient's future, in an approach centred on the patient, on their freedom and their autonomy, opens up the way towards recovery.