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00:00Well, it was just five years ago today that French President Emmanuel Macron announced
00:05France's first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lockdown that lasted for nearly
00:10two months, followed by a letup and then more tightening of restrictions over a period of
00:15nearly two years.
00:17Well, that pandemic, of course, profoundly affected health and well-being around the
00:22world, leading to widespread social isolation, reduced physical activity and prompting significant
00:27lifestyle changes that posed many risks to people's mental and emotional health as well.
00:34Studies in the years after COVID-19 have shown the pandemic was particularly hard on young
00:37people.
00:38And we're going to talk about the mental health effects now with psychiatrist and university
00:42professor Viviane Coves-Maffesti, who joins me now on the set.
00:46Viviane, thank you so much for coming in to talk to us.
00:48First of all, why was COVID so particularly hard on younger people?
00:55The mental health of young people has never been so good.
00:59I mean, it is an age when a lot of things are happening and there is a focus on young
01:05health, but in fact, they never be so good.
01:11So it's very hard.
01:12I mean, when we are talking about the COVID, it depends very much on situations.
01:19I mean, first of all, even between European countries, there were a lot of difference
01:24between Denmark, Norway, France, as you know.
01:27So the consequence could have been different.
01:30And we do not have such good studies, you know, with data before and after and afterward.
01:38So I try before coming to make a sort of revision of all what has been published.
01:44And the main question is, what's the situation today?
01:48What is the answer?
01:49I mean, what kind of long term effects now are we seeing linked to the pandemic and the
01:54lockdown?
01:55I mean, if five years appear long term, you know, what we can see is that at least in
02:00France, the situation is going better for young people and in other countries as well.
02:08So the data today, in fact, are very reassuring.
02:12I mean, for example, I have a paper which is refuting the myth of a tsunami of mental
02:20health in the population affected by COVID.
02:23So, you know, people were expecting something very hard on mental health and in fact, it
02:28doesn't happen.
02:29So in terms of suicide, suicide rates, suicidal attempt and so on, you know, most of the population
02:37was stable, in fact, and a lot of them were recovering.
02:42And what is clear is that the more fragile, in fact, were very much affected.
02:48Indeed.
02:49Yeah.
02:50So people were ready.
02:51Perhaps what we can say is that the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing conditions for people.
02:55That's very true.
02:56That's very true.
02:57And some of them are going better.
02:59Some of them not.
03:00But, you know, basically, the more fragile were the more affected.
03:06What are the signs of depression that young people or parents of young people or loved
03:10ones should look out for if we're going to be worried about someone in particularly their
03:14state of mind?
03:15Is there anything in particular to watch out for?
03:17I mean, that's a real problem, because, in fact, a lot of data came from symptoms that
03:24mean recent symptoms and probably transient symptoms.
03:29And there was a sort of confusion between transient symptoms, what happens very often
03:34in young people who have up and down, as you may know, and a real true depressive disorder
03:41which needs medical attention and so on and so forth.
03:44So, you know, we have to find a balance between, of course, looking at the children and the
03:50other hand, not spend our time waiting that they maybe have some depressed symptom and
03:55start worrying about it, because at the end, it could be self-predictive.
04:02That means, you know, you always tell the young, you know, they may be depressed.
04:06You tell the parents they may be depressed, you know, it's like something that is a bad
04:12ambience that, you know, parents and adolescents especially have to trust themselves.
04:20And, you know, so this sort of mix between transient symptoms reacting to something difficult
04:28versus disease is a bit embarrassing.
04:32So in your opinion, this is what was perhaps self-perpetuating, this idea of more depression
04:37coming out of COVID-19 and the pandemic?
04:40Yes and no. I mean, you know, it's very difficult today, five years after, to attribute to the
04:46COVID-19 any depressive symptoms of young people, because a lot of other things happen,
04:52as you know.
04:53I mean, Viviane, thank you so much for coming in to speak to us.
04:57Viviane Kovetz-Massessy, thank you so much, a psychiatrist and university professor.
05:01Thank you very much.