In order to help French people in psychological distress due to confinement, the CovidEcoute platform offers, among other things, free interviews with mental health specialists.
- Confinement has led to an increase in cases of psychological distress
- A psychologist has set up a free listening platform
“The post-Covid will be psychiatric”. According to a YouGov poll, on March 30, a fortnight after the start of confinement, 40% of French people felt psychologically “less well” than before. If this figure is impressive, it’s a safe bet that, three weeks later, it has only increased. To help the many French people in psychological distress due to confinement, the Fundamental Foundation created the platform CovidListen at the initiative of clinical psychologist Stéphanie Pelissolo. “It’s an original, free, fully secure solution that will last for the duration of the pandemic”explains to Why doctor Marion Leboyer, Professor of Psychiatry at Paris-Est Créteil University, Head of DMU Impact at the Henri Mondor Hospital Group and Director of FondaMental. Implemented with the support of the PwC France and Maghreb consulting and auditing firm, AXA and its Qare platform, the French Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy (AFTCC), Encephale online and the Fondation Pierre Deniker, Covid Ecoute is accessible free of charge from a computer or smartphone.
The platform offers “programs to help yourself or to choose, from a list of volunteer mental health professionals specializing in mental health care, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, an addictologist for one or two video consultations between 45 minutes and an hour and a half for free”. After which, a report of the exchange will be sent to you.
In detail, the “helping yourself” section refers to advice, mindfulness meditation exercises, the My Sherpa self-care application, free for the first three months, and links to various information content relating to Covid-19. As for the professionals who can be consulted, these are specialists trained with the tools of the AFTCC or who “contacted us to make themselves available to CovidEcoute and callers during certain time slots, since in general they work in parallel”explains Marion Leboyer.
“Trying to provide occasional support to prevent states of depression”
Since its launch on April 15, CovidEcoute has already met with some success with more than 22,000 visits and nearly 400 teleconsultations. “What we feared is happening: there are of course patients who have already been taken care of who call occasionally, but also many people who have never been taken care of and who call on us because they are stressed by confinement, illness, the fact that they no longer control their alcohol consumption, that they can no longer manage their daily life between work, shopping, children and cleaning…, explains the director of FondaMental. We also receive calls from caregivers exposed to very difficult and painful situations or from bereaved families or whose loved ones are in hospital.. This situation is likely to worsen with the social and economic consequences of the pandemic. Current conditions increase the risk of post-traumatic stress and depression”she warns.
However, if there is serious depression, the specialists can refer the person to a therapist, because CovidEcoute is above all “a care strategy dedicated to this very stressful situation that is the current pandemic, insists Marion Leboyer, specifying that it is impossible to go beyond two sessions per caller. This platform’s mission is to try to support people who call on an ad hoc basis to prevent these states of depression and post-traumatic stress and possibly invite them to consult a doctor or their psychologist if they already have one..”
“We will have to ensure for a whole new part of the population”
Unfortunately, since the start of confinement, the French consult much less. If this is true for all pathologies, it is even worse in terms of mental health. ” In the Paris region, attendance at psychiatric emergencies has dropped by 50% compared to usual”warns Marion Leboyer who reminds those concerned that “non-Covid circuits” were set up. “The French must not be afraid of catching the coronavirus by going to consult and they must not be afraid of disturbing us. We are here for that. Mental health professionals have all reorganized. All psychological medical centers operate by teleconsultation and so do liberal psychiatrists”she recalls, deploring the number of appointment cancellations.
If the current situation is far from encouraging, the psychiatrist is especially worried about the future. “Psychiatry was already the weak link in the French medical system before the crisis, but now we will have to assume and ensure for a whole new part of the population. Indeed, confinement risks having serious psychological consequences for many French people who were not taken care of before. “We think that the after Covid will be psychiatric”she warns.
“Many people will get sick. Today, it seems that many people suffering from depressive states or anxiety disorders are calling us. Many of them will need psychotherapeutic and medical care afterwards. Remember that CMPs are free “, she insists. We are already thinking about the next solution to try to perpetuate an offer that you will talk about later.”
.
