Anxiety, insomnia, mental exhaustion, anger… The symptoms of Covid-19 go far beyond respiratory problems. Since the start of the health crisis, experts have constantly warned of the risks of depression linked to successive lockdowns (and some even offer immediate solutions). In the press and on television sets, the discomfort of students or even isolated elderly people often comes up in discussions. But as Sophie Dupont explains on TMC, Thursday February 11, 2021, children are obviously the big ones forgotten by this problem. While one asks many questions about sanitary conditions at school, one hears very little about the mental health of the little ones. To remedy this, the journalist from Daily looked into the subject.
“I'm depressed, and I'm sad, and it makes me want to die”
For the program presented every day by Yann Barthès, Sophie Dupont therefore went to the child psychiatry department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. There she met Dr. Paloma Torres, who indicates that since the first confinement, “many children have depression, anxiety disorders and suicidal thoughts ”. This is particularly the case of Emma, 11, admitted in early October 2020. The little girl has agreed to confide in her mental state in front of the cameras. “People think we are crazy, whereas we are normal people with difficulty at some point in our lives ", she first recalled.
Her testimony, particularly moving, reflects a great lucidity on the part of the girl: “I'm having depression, and I'm sad, and it makes me wanna die”, says Emma. Words difficult to hear, which have nevertheless been commonplace in the service for several months. Like many of us, the 11-year-old had idealized the first lockdown. “At first I was like ‘owl, I'm going to be able to hang out with mom and dad. And then after two weeks, I realized that I didn't really like it, that it was not what i imagined”, says Emma. While expecting an extended vacation, the little girl was very disappointed that her parents continued to work. Realizing what she just said, Emma worries about their reaction: “I'm afraid it will hurt mum and dad”, she slips before being reassured by the nursing staff.
The number of children admitted to child psychiatry continues to increase
Despite her impatience to return to school after the deconfinement, Emma did not feel better when she returned to class. “I was starting to feel sad, I didn't want to spend time with others anymore. And I started to want to die, to hurt myself. I saw a psychologist, then she advised me to go to the hospital ", finally explains the young patient, now in full reconstruction. At present, the child psychiatric service at Pitié-Salpêtrière is saturated. 27 children are on the waiting list, while new requests arrive daily, says Sophie Dupont.
"I'm having depression, I want to die."
Since the arrival of the Covid, admission requests have exploded in child psychiatric hospitals. Emma, 11, has been hospitalized since October 2. Testimonial ⬇️#Daily pic.twitter.com/A3HL2vaA90– Daily (@Qofficiel) February 11, 2021
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