Covid-19 et adolescence : constats cliniques et réflexions psychopathologiques à propos de quelques incidences immédiates ou différées

This pandemic has profoundly changed our lives for many months and its long-term consequences remain largely hypothetical. The containment measures, the threats to the health of relatives, the constraints limiting social openings have left no one indifferent, but may have particularly impeded “adolescent separation work”. Most of adolescents have been able to deploy their adaptation capacities, while for others this exceptional situation has triggered stressful reactions for those around them. Some were immediately overwhelmed by the direct or indirect manifestations of their anxiety or by their intolerance of governmental instructions, others revealed their difficulties only when the schools reopened, or even in the distant “aftermath”, as shown by some studies carried out at a distance revealing a clear increase in suicidal ideation. We will not be surprised by the problems of adaptation of the most fragile, of those suffering from psychopathological disorders, but it is necessary to note an increase in the needs for psychological care. Teams dealing with the suffering of adolescents are puzzled by the increase in self-vulnerable acts, anxious school refusals, eating disorders or various forms of addiction to screens. However, everyone agrees on the key role of parents and the impact of their own suffering on that of their children, even if they are young adults. Of course, it is important that caregivers do not forget the parents in the support they aim to provide to their young patients.