The Defender of Rights, Claire Hédon alerts the government: more resources are needed to take care of the mental health of young people, very affected after the Covid-19 crisis.
- Fil Santé Jeunes is a free and anonymous listening service by telephone, on 0 800 235 236, every day, from 9am to 11pm for young people aged 12 to 25.
- For adults, the Red Cross has set up a listening line, 0 800 858 858, available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and weekends from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“The health crisis has considerably reduced the social interactions that are essential to the psychic construction of adolescents, can we read in a communicated of the Defender of Rights, Claire Hédon. Indeed, while the peak of hospitalizations for adolescents in 2021 does not come down, the situation of some of these minors remains dramatic, as the care is sometimes unsuitable..
A call to the Prime Minister…
In this documentpublished on Wednesday June 1, Claire Hédon calls on the government to put in place an emergency plan on the mental health of young people in France.
Indeed, the Defender of Rights directly challenges Élisabeth Borne. She asks the Prime Minister to “take full measure of the seriousness of the situation in which many young people are plunged and to act quickly so that the mental health of young people is a priority”.
…in the face of the distress of youth
Closed faculties and places of leisure, financial difficulties, social restrictions… With the pandemic, French – and global – youth have taken it upon themselves to respect government measures and get out of this health crisis.
But, after two years, the results are worrying: the passage to the emergency room for suicidal thoughts and gestures remains at levels higher than those of previous years among young people aged 11 to 24, according to Public Health France. A situation which would also be due to the lack of means to take charge of the health of young people.
A lack of means which has consequences on care
Indeed, in her press release, the Defender of Rights judges the means of aid for young people “”largely insufficient, and argues the “failures systems for listening to and collecting the child’s speech” but also the “lack of staff and resources” which push certain structures to close beds in child psychiatry.
“VSsome children going to the emergency room after a suicide attempt, had no beds available, and were therefore not hospitalized or in an adult psychiatric service”, which is therefore not suitable.
Requests to the government
Beyond the observation, the Defender of Rights makes a list of four recommendations for improving the care of the mental health of young people: strengthening medical staff (nurses and doctors) in schools and the means of inclusive schools to children with disabilities, developing and supporting projects to create mobile teams and, finally, consolidating and securing the financing of the centers for adolescents in each department. Necessary demands for the mental health of young French people.
