Many French people are suffering morally from the Covid-19 crisis, after long months of restrictions.

Saturday on Europe 1, the psychiatrist Serge Hefez is alarmed by the fact that "20% of the French population begins to switch to psychiatry".

The specialist invites the authorities to prepare for the consequences of the crisis in the long term.

INTERVIEW

It is a chilling observation made by psychiatrist Serge Hefez on Saturday on Europe 1. Because of Covid-19 and the restrictions associated with it, this unit manager of the child psychiatry service and the teenager at the Parisian hospital of Pitié Salpêtrière estimates that "20% of the French population begins to switch to psychiatry".

Anguish, depression, confusion, anger ... Many French people find themselves in situations of distress.

For the specialist, these symptoms are not new but they "are now slipping more and more towards psychiatry".

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"We are in this third psychiatric wave"

"It's terrible, all my colleagues say the same thing", continues Serge Hefez.

"We are in this third wave of psychiatry at the moment, with suicidal risks which are major, with depressions which are almost melancholic, states of anxious astonishment with risks of decompensation, a little on a paranoid mode."

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Even more problematic: family and friendships or even sport are no longer sufficient to alleviate these ailments, according to the psychiatrist.

"You really need care for these people, diagnoses, and being able to conduct appropriate treatments."

>> Find the mid-day weekend podcast and replay here

The fear of a sharp rise in suicides

Serge Hefez relates the increase in "suicide attempts, especially among adolescents, which have increased compared to last year".

And "we know from experience that suicides occur a year or even two after a crisis," he adds.

For the specialist, it is therefore urgent that the country's authorities prepare "this medium term and this long term" for the consequences of Covid-19.