“For almost two years, I’ve been on an emotional elevator and it’s wearing out.” Marie, 35, felt the wear and tear last week when she learned she was in contact after having lunch with a colleague at her workplace. “I am tired, tired of having to constantly follow these sanitary measures”, recognizes the young woman, provider in a Parisian administration. “We rush to make restaurants and see exhibitions while waiting for the sword of Damocles to fall above our heads”, she laments, fearing a possible curfew or confinement.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the mental health of the French has deteriorated, according to the survey conducted by Public Health France on the evolution of behavior and mental health during the epidemic. The latest publication, dated November 25, reports that 17% of French people show signs of a depressive state, which is 7% more than the non-epidemic level, and 23% of the signs of an anxious state, or 9% more than before the onset of the health crisis.
An anxiety that you shared through the call for testimonials launched by franceinfo on the omnipresent health threat in people’s minds and which results in fatigue, physical and psychological, increasingly severe in times of epidemic.
“The Covid? I don’t think about it, it’s constantly there, it’s a permanent mental load!” exclaims 22-year-old Adam. For this Strasbourg student, in history and lyrical singing, the mask worn all day long has become “the symbol” of this psychological weight. This young tenor has had a bad time with the previous confinements which forced him to put his social life and his studies on hiatus. So he tries somehow to pretend nothing has happened to keep “fighting spirit”. But the threat “that everything can end there now” is crouching “in a corner of [sa] head”.
“This uncertainty and this lack of control for almost two years have come to play on mental health”, remarks Alicia Fournier, researcher in health psychology and lecturer in sports psychology at the University of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
“Some people, who did not react strongly at the start of the epidemic, become more anxious from weariness and decreased resilience. In others, more emotionally fragile, this can lead to abandonment.”
Alicia Fournier, psychology researcherto franceinfo
This situation makes Alicia Fournier fearful “a mental exhaustion of society” badly anticipated by the State. For the researcher, the latter favored immediacy by seeking to protect the population and limit the spread of the virus. “But he forgot to consider, at the same time, the impact of this epidemic on mental health and there is a moment when we are going to have important consequences”, she warns.
However, from the start of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health put in place preventive measures relating to mental health. And from 2022, consultations with liberal psychologists will be reimbursed “for the whole population” on medical prescription, announced the President of the Republic in September.
Thinking about taking a mask on each outing, weighing the risk of contamination before seeing relatives or even isolating yourself at the slightest notification of a contact case are constraints that have become daily. “Over time and confinements, the stress becomes more insidious”, admits Juliette, project manager in the cultural field, who fears more than anything a return to teleworking. “At first, when we had to work from home, I started talking less and less with my colleagues, then for fear of being in bad company, I didn’t want to go out.”
Faced with these fears, her doctor prescribed antidepressants that she is trying to stop today, after having left Paris and moved to Libourne (Gironde).
“My doctor immediately reassured me by telling me that out of the 10 patients she had seen on the same day she had prescribed anxiolytics for five people and antidepressants for two others.”
Since the start of the epidemic, the use of anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs has been “huge increase” and got “further amplified in 2021”, underlines a report from the Medicines Agency (ANSM). Over the first quarter of the year, the primary delivery of antidepressants increased by 23% and that of anxiolytics by 15.2%.
Despite the threat of the Delta and Omicron variants, Juliette does not currently plan to reduce her social life, as this would, according to her, worsen her psychological state. “I’m sick of these rules! Even if I understand them, at one point that’s enough”, she proclaims. For Alicia Fournier, this attitude is understandable. “We still can’t see the end of the tunnel and some people may be exhausted and let go of all health safety rules”, she analyzes.
Over time, the dilemma between the desire to have a social life and the application of health guidelines becomes complicated. “There is a kind of guilt that sets in, recognizes the specialist in health psychology. On the one hand, we want to stop living in this constant fear and get back to our previous life. And on the other hand, we tell ourselves that there are still people dying and that we have to hold on if one day we want to live again normally. “
Some, like Jean-Paul, 68, are struggling to find a balance. This retired grandfather, in Thurey-le-Mont (Doubs), still wants to protect his loved ones, but he is asking the question for himself.
“Is the game worth the candle? So many sacrifices to lead a stunted life, is it still an exhilarating project?”
“When my wife asks me what we’re doing next week, I don’t answer anymore because I don’t know”, he breathes wearily. The health crisis put an end, not only to his travel plans, but also to a last major project which was to build a house in the city, in the region of Besançon (Doubs). The building permit could not be filed on time, due to administrations paralyzed at the start of the epidemic, which led to the cancellation of the purchase of the land. “Two years later, we are too old to embark on this project again”, laments Jean-Paul.
For Anne-Bérangère, 39, managing the risk of bringing the virus home or infecting a loved one has become “a permanent concern”. “Here I ask myself the question of the Christmas market organized by the school: am I going there or not?” wonders this teacher from schools in Lille (North). The return of health restrictions weighs on him “Verry much”. For the end-of-year celebrations, the Scientific Council invites the French, for example, to limit the number of guests and to perform a self-test. “As long as there was no vaccine, I was very stressed, I had drastic measures in place at home. With the vaccine, it eased, but there are times like this here which rekindle fears “, lets go of the mother.
“At times like this, I quickly become irrational and panic quickly.”
Anne-Bérangèreto franceinfo
A vicious circle well identified in health psychology. “Emotions have a very important role in decision-making, in particular fear which leads to hyper vigilance, details Alicia Fournier. Combined with more pessimism and greater worry, fear leads to giving more importance to small probabilities and to overestimating the real risk. ”
Naturally cheerful, Anne-Bérangère does not want to tarnish her image with her family. So she doesn’t externalize her “deep resentment”. “But if it doesn’t improve I think I’ll take some outside help”, she admits. An attitude encouraged by Alicia Fournier: “It is central to be able to express your emotions in order to prevent our body from somatizing and developing a mental disorder or other.” The Ministry of Health has made available via Public Health France a series of advice and contacts, such as the Covidout.fr or Psycom.org sites, in order to take care of his mental health during the epidemic. A list of helpers to which Alice Fournier adds the positive reassessment method. “It makes it possible to extract the positive from the negative which is very useful in these uncertain times”, she concludes.