- The help lines for families, run by associations of psychologists, are increasingly used.
- Example in Nantes where these professionals are mobilized to respond to anxieties, linked to school at home, relationships with spouse or children, or social inequalities which are increasing.
At first, you had to fill out a form to be called back. However, in response to demand, a direct line was added in the evening and on Saturday morning. At the parents' school in Loire-Atlantique, the telephone keeps ringing while the fourth week of confinement ends in France. At the other end of the line, psychologists take turns to listen and advise families, some of whom are finding it increasingly difficult to manage the situation. “We feel the anxiety rising, confirms Yannick Bervas, the director of the association. Some parents just need to be listened to, others to alert them to more burdensome situations. We realize that everyone is under severe strain, with promiscuity, fatigue, and illness. "
Cécile Reich, from the Nantes association Le Pas, is also increasingly in demand. She receives long texts at night, and her cell phone now rings almost ten times a day. Isolated people, couples experiencing relationship problems, but also families, at the end of their tether. "Some call me after I cracked," she says. I had a lady who had just thrown all of her children's belongings out the window. She felt completely overwhelmed by homework. "Home school is a central problem," confirms Sophie Marinopoulos, psychologist and founder of the association Les Pâtes au beurre, which mobilizes 40 professionals during this period, from 9 am to 9 pm. It is important to say that learning can be done in many ways: by making pancake batter for example, one can count with young children, work on multiplication or subtraction with older ones. You have to take a step back and try to adapt. "
Parental disagreements that are revealed
A posture that these professionals also apply to themselves. Containment measures make it impossible to receive families during interviews, which normally last an hour. It is now necessary to find the words by phone, often in thirty minutes maximum, in order to be able to handle other calls. "We don't see the person and yet we are in their privacy," continues Sophie Marinopoulos. We have a lot of fears related to alternate custody but we are also witnessing parental disagreements, which are revealed in couples who were not used to seeing each other as much. There, we can ask to put on loudspeaker, to be able to speak to everyone, to children too. We propose to remember, to know how it evolves. There is no ready-made solution, it's high fashion work. "
In this period of confinement, where there is sometimes a lack of space and time for oneself, there is often a recurring recommendation: that of establishing a framework, rules, respecting schedules. "The idea is to ritualize your day," explains Yannick Bervas. When you have teens who don't want to do anything except sit in front of the screens, you have to try to fix moments to share together, like meals. This is necessary so as not to fall into complex inertia. "And when we don't want to talk to each other, which is normal, we take breaks by setting rules there too," adds Sophe Marinopoulos. A mother may very well ask that she be left alone, in the kitchen for example, for an hour. "
"We can't shake their hands anymore"
While this advice can help some households stay the course, psychologists know that it is difficult to apply to others. They observe that social inequalities deprive certain families of cultural resources, such as readings or multimedia content available on the Internet. Intra-family violence also worries, while all the associations we interviewed have dealt with several cases already.
"It's even harder for those who combine socio-economic distress with the difficulties of confinement," says Cécile Reich. We can no longer shake their hands, a symbolic gesture but which in normal times makes them feel that they are not alone. I am afraid that for them, the problems are so great that the telephone is not enough over time. "
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20 seconds of context
The three associations we interviewed, based in Nantes, offer anonymous and free interviews. Their contact details (among others) are available on the town hall website.
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus
- Family
- Nantes
- Containment
- Society
- Psychology