Two years of pandemic | Young people in trouble… and resilient

Increased anxiety. Increased screen time. Disinterest in “real” meetings. School and sports demotivation. Fear of viruses and germs. Two years of pandemic have changed young people, parents note – but not only negatively.

Maude Goyer
special collaboration

The confinement and the many changes in health instructions have weighed heavily on many children, whether they are preschoolers or teenagers. And while the resilience and adaptability of young people have been repeatedly touted by parents and experts, for some the situation has been painful.

And it leaves traces.

“My daughter no longer believes what the government says,” says Anne Marie Hébert, mother of a 10-year-old girl and three boys aged 8, 5 and 2. “It’s as if she was disillusioned. She follows the rules, but she’s been overloaded. The instructions changed so often that she became anxious, even a little aggressive. »

This 35-year-old mother from Chambly says her daughter only wants one thing: to be in class, sitting with her friends, a teacher in front of her.

These same frustrations were experienced by the eldest of Marilyn Richard, mother of two boys aged 14 and 9 – but much harder. “The rules that come and go, the fact that he is isolated, without being able to be with his friends, confined, with an additional curfew, all that made him angry. He had fits…until the day he verbalized that he was not well. “Thanks to psychosocial support resources deployed around the family, the son of Mr.^me Richard is better, even well.

Uncontrollable fears

According to Nicolas Chevrier, psychologist, the pandemic will have lifted the veil on mental health problems in the general population and particularly among children and adolescents. “We talk about it a lot more, he underlines, we are more informed, it is less taboo. People will tend, I believe, to seek help more quickly. »

He points out that anxiety and eating disorders are on the rise and that the repercussions are poorly measured at the moment.

“A year from now, if we do not face other waves of COVID-19, which problems will disappear and which will remain? »

Julie Chaumont, mother of two girls aged 11 and 8, cannot swear that the new obsession of her oldest will take hold… or dissipate. “She developed a phobia of germs, says the 41-year-old Montrealer, and there were very few ways to reason with her. We tried to play it down, to explain it to him, to help him overcome his fear… but in the end, we consulted a psychoeducator. And I read a lot on the subject. »

Fear of illness also haunted Mélissa Gagnon’s 9-year-old boy. He was terrified of catching COVID-19… and throwing up. “He fell into hypervigilance of his symptoms, he had anxiety and panic attacks”, explains the mother whose 11-year-old daughter also had anxiety.

Less fulfilled teenagers

Pediatrician, adolescent physician and researcher at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval, the D^r Richard Bélanger participated in a large study on the mental health of adolescents in times of pandemic. It turns out that their mental health has been put to the test. “The adolescent population comes out battered from the pandemic, explains the D^r Belanger. Anxiety is on the rise, depressive symptoms too. And we see a lesser development of teenagers. »

The report points out that the number of adolescents showing an increase in significant depressive symptoms or saying they are less fulfilled is on the rise, particularly among “girls, adolescents in the second cycle, those from more disadvantaged backgrounds or whose family life has been described as less happy.

Deprived of their routine, some young people took charge, while for others it was the opposite. They got disorganized. “They lost their bearings, they had fewer sporting, cultural, social opportunities, recalls the D^r Belanger. And they were less in a context for fun. »

Drafted by a women’s hockey team from Quebec, the 14-year-old daughter of Cynthia Paradis chose to leave the family nest of Sainte-Luce, in the fall of 2020, to live her dream. This great achievement has turned into a real logistical challenge because of the pandemic. “She did school remotely in addition to seeing her practices and games canceled,” explains the 44-year-old mother of three. She went through a lot of stress and pressure. »

For his two boys aged 13 and 7, the challenge was mainly related to the management of screens. But since the social life of children today largely depends on online exchanges, M^me Paradis and her partner opted for a more flexible approach. “When it’s too much, we turn off the WiFi,” she laughs.

Mother of a 14-year-old teenager and a 12-year-old daughter, Annie Charbonneau-Fortin also had a hard time using screens. How to find a balance without depriving your children of their friends, frequented only online?

“They gradually developed other areas of interest,” she says. My boy started playing the guitar. Before the pandemic, he was passionate about triathlon. Would his interests and occupations have drifted so far without the pandemic? I don’t know, but now there are four or five friends coming to play music in the basement. »

Her daughter, meanwhile, greatly improved her English thanks to watching videos on the web… and she started cooking. “She can make us whole dinners, from A to Z,” says the 41-year-old mother from Gatineau. I find that they have been, overall, very resilient. They have shown that they have great adaptability. You have to trust them! »