Bernard-Henri Lévy: “I have often tried to cure myself”, this incurable illness from which Arielle Dombasle's husband suffers

Bernard-Henry Lévy never succeeded in curing a stubborn and incurable illness. The Parisian collected his confidences.

© Bestimage Bernard-Henri Lévy and Arielle Dombasle in Morocco, in 2024

IN BRIEF

• Bernard-Henri Lévy and Arielle Dombasle, an emblematic couple in France, continue to address each other formally despite the years.
• Bernard-Henri Lévy suffers from chronic insomnia, a condition that he cannot cure despite many attempts.
• Discover how BHL uses sleeping pills to manage his insomnia while remaining vigilant during his reporting.

It is one of the most publicized love stories in France. Nothing can separate Bernard-Henri Lévy and Arielle Dombasle. Despite the years, the couple continues to address each other formally. “She will probably address me formally until my last breath”, confirms the philosopher in an interview given to our colleagues at Figaro.

He explains: “It is no more intimate to use the familiar form than to use the formal form, because it implies a whole depth of relationship between the two people and you do not change your mode of address like you change your shirt.” Struck by lovesickness for several decades, the man of letters also suffers from a completely different kind of incurable illness.

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Bernard-Henry Lévy: what illness does he not get heal ?

In an interview published by Le Parisien this week, Bernard-Henri Lévy explains that he suffers from a terrible chronic insomnia. “I've always slept badly, he admits. Even as a child. But the real tipping point is afterwards, when I'm out of childhood.” According to him, this incurable illness is rooted in his inability to “let go”.

Nevertheless, Arielle Dombasle's partner assures he has tried everything to get back to sleep. “I have often tried to heal myself”, he insists in the pages of the Parisian daily newspaper, confirming: “I think I have tried everything, in fact, all the techniques, all the machines, all the possible remedies, all the institutes. Sleep everywhere”. Nothing would have worked.

Bernard-Henry Lévy: this remedy that he can no longer do without

Despite everything, BHL manages to rest thanks to sleeping pills, a remedy that is “formidable”, according to him, which “allows you to fall asleep suddenly”. He qualifies this: “But it also makes you wake up suddenly – and that's rather a shame because it deprives you of the voluptuous pleasure that I used to have when I crossed the gates of sleep”.

Bernard-Henri Lévy nevertheless manages to do without sleeping pills in certain conditions. “When I'm reporting, for obvious reasons of security, I don't take them”, the novelist specifies, referring to the need of “being able to wake up in the middle of the night and move at any time”. If necessary, he can go three days without closing his eyes…