[The influence of madness in the literary production of Gerard de Nerval].

Gerard de Nerval was a French writer, poet and essayist, precursor of surrealism that used for the first time this word in literature and influenced many modern writers. Since the age of 32, Nerval had recurrent psychotic episodes mixed with a severe depression, leading to many hospitalizations, and finally to his death. This mental disease clearly influenced his works and provided originality to his prose and poetry. However no clear explanation has ever been given to his mental disorder. We analyzed the clinical data available from his own works and the opinion of his close friends and postulate the hypothesis that Nerval had a mood disorder.