Most of Rennes’ 67,000 students have been without face-to-face lessons for more than two months. You are a doctor and director of the interuniversity health service. What are you seeing in your department
With us, requests for psychological follow-up have increased by 30% in this academic year compared to previous years. Student difficulties have always existed, but now they are exacerbated. We note an increase in requests for support but also a more complex situation. For many, many students we see an increase in anxiety and depression… But for a few, the situation causes severe depression and the onset of psychiatric disorders. It is between 16 and 25 years that they emerge. The health crisis reveals the pre-existing flaws. The breaking of the social bond plays an important role in the increase of sleep and eating disorders. Some students no longer want to play sports and leave their homes… But there is also financial insecurity because many students have lost their food work. The future is uncertain, young people cannot project themselves when it is precisely an age in life where we are projecting. They feel that their life is no longer meaningful. Following studies by videoconference is very difficult. And overwork leads to weariness and fatigue.
Did the students experience the second confinement more badly than the first?
Yes. At the first confinement, there was a phenomenon of general astonishment. We were in March – April, they said to themselves: “We will do what we can and we will see the following year …” But, at the second confinement, they lost hope of finding a normal student life. The anguish rose. We are particularly vigilant with first year students. They have not had time to form friendships and are particularly isolated. But the discomfort is found in everyone. We have reactivated the crisis line
created during the first confinement with the university psychological aid office and the Guillaume-Régnier psychiatric hospital. Every day, except weekends, students can reach a health professional from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Depending on their problem, they will be referred to a specialist: psychologist, psychiatrist, nurse, dietitian …
Are you worried that this current malaise will have repercussions for the next two or three years?
The trauma of this crisis will not stop when we resume normal life. People will have consequences. It will be necessary to accompany the most fragile for a longer time. With the ARS, the Brittany region and the Rennes metropolitan area, we are in the process of setting up a longer-term action plan.
-* Psychological crisis line: 02 99 30 81 24
