"I'm afraid of going back to Paris," says Eugenie, 28, a consultant in the health sector. Confined to the provinces, she must return to Paris after May 11 to make her move. "I will feel less secure. I find it hard to imagine social distancing in public transport", she confides to France 24. As the official date of the deconfinement in France approaches, part of the population is not ready to return to his former life. 

If daily deaths and hospitalizations for coronavirus continued to decrease Thursday, May 7, some French people fear despite everything that the opening of schools, the return to work, the freedom of movement and the resumption of trade would restart the spread of Covid-19 . It can be expected that many of them will continue to confine themselves voluntarily.

AFP relays the testimony of Carole, 42, nanny in the Paris region. This mother of a toddler has lived cloistered in her house since the beginning of confinement, consumed by fear. She thus remained without food for two weeks. "It was pasta and pasta. The main thing was that there was milk for my daughter," she says. 

A confinement that she intends to extend beyond May 11. "I am even more afraid because there will be many more people on the streets," she explains and says she intends to consult a psychologist to help her fight this fear. 

"Our shrinks work tirelessly"

"We can easily imagine major phobic disorders, and certainly depressions" in the coming weeks, explains Antoine Zuber, psychiatrist in Paris, also contacted by AFP. 

Beyond psychiatric disorders, a study carried out on 10,000 volunteers revealed the extent of the mental distress of the French during the Covid-19 crisis. "We have noticed that more than 30% of people have seen their sleep deteriorated," explains Christian Clot, explorer and researcher, responsible for the scientific study "Covadapt: ​​Impact study and adaptation to the COVID-19 crisis", on the antenna of France 24. "The mental traumas are enormous: 40% of the population expressed distress."

These anxieties are largely linked to the fear of the other. "Patients with conditions other than Covid-19 dare not come to see us", testifies anonymously to France 24 a hospital pediatrician in the Center region, an area less affected by the epidemic. "Partly because they are afraid of clogging up our services, but partly also because they are afraid of us. I had to fight to convince some mothers to let me physically examine their child," says the practitioner . "Our shrinks work tirelessly on the phone to follow the families" 

She says she is worried about post-confinement herself: "I fear incivility, behavior for yourself and not for others". She gives the example of wearing a mask. "People have not understood that you have to wear it to protect others. They think it is a gesture of self-protection."

Disrupt new habits and project yourself

For Christian Clot, the disruption of habits is another source of anxiety. "Some people have been able to set up a functional system within their confines. Reorganizing to get out of it is very difficult emotionally," he explains. However, he notes that the main source of stress remains "the future".

The prospects of job loss and reduced quality of life cause concern for Eugenie. "But also the next day's world: will it be more ecological or more irresponsible?" Wonders the consultant, favorable to the resumption of work. She is now planning her future far from big cities. Her husband says he fears for our social relationships: "I am afraid of the fear of the other."

The possibility of a second wave is in everyone's mouth. For the team behind the Covadapt study, a reconfiguration, as mentioned by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Thursday, "would be a mistake". Christian Clot evokes the need to "put in place sufficient gestures, tests and protections".

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