Claire Hédon called on the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, to put in place an emergency plan for the mental health of young people, which has been undermined since the health crisis.
Two years after the health crisis, the wave of psychiatric problems among young people has not subsided and worries specialists. The Defender of Rights called, Thursday, June 2, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, to put in place an emergency plan for the mental health of young people in the face of “the seriousness of the situation”, considering that the means “largely insufficient are deployed.
“While 2022 has been designated European Year of Youth, the Defender of Rights, Claire Hédon, and her deputy, the Children’s Defender, Eric Delmar, call on the Prime Minister to take the full measure of the gravity of the situation in which many young people and to act quickly to ensure that the mental health of young people is a priority, ”she said in a press release.
Young girls mainly affected
The Defender of Rights had already warned in November about the state of the mental health of young people undermined by the health crisis, with an increase in depressive disorders and insufficient psychiatric care, in her annual report on the rights of the ‘child.
According to the latest bulletin from Public Health France, visits to the emergency room for suicidal gestures, suicidal thoughts, and mood disorders among 11-17-year-olds were maintained at the beginning of May “at a high level”, higher than that observed at the start. of 2021. If all social backgrounds are affected, in 80% of cases suicidal behavior concerns young girls, which is nothing new.
“Public Health France, unfortunately, proved him right by publishing alarming figures on an increase in visits to the emergency room for suicidal gestures, suicidal thoughts, and mood disorders”, underlines the press release, deploring that “however, certain structures continue to close beds in child psychiatry due to a lack of personnel and resources”.
29 recommendations
Over the past few months, the delays in obtaining an appointment with a psychiatrist have considerably lengthened. In medico-psychological centers, they can reach 18 months depending on the region. “The lack of care for mental health disorders and the resulting breaches of rights constitute an obstacle to the proper development of the child and to his best interests, which two years of epidemic waves have contributed to aggravating in a very worrying way. “, continues the text.
“While the peak of adolescent hospitalizations in 2021 does not come down, the situation of some of these minors remains dramatic, as the care is sometimes unsuitable. “ For the Defender of Rights, it is necessary to “get out of fragmentary and strictly sanitary approaches”.
Faced with growing needs, certain structures have emerged such as Strap, in the 20th arrondissement in Paris, which promises a rapid response (48 hours maximum) to young people aged 10 to 15 in a state of crisis and who have no psychiatric follow-up in their area. But it is only accessible to Parisians.
In her November report, the Defender of Rights made 29 recommendations to tackle this problem, including improving childcare facilities for young children, developing “parenting support” and opening “adolescent homes” . in each department.