A singular story - that of Marlène - enables to understand how individuals cope with major difficulties of life, such as family disintegration, social or institutional abuses, vagrancy and rupture, while they have lost any point of reference and social support. In their trajectories which are punctuated with such hardships they resort to very personal tricks to recover resources, points of reference and supports that help them keep their autonomy. Both the management of daily life and landmarks in social life come within the field of mental health that is considered the space where individuals build themselves in societies that are dominated by differentiation and competition.