How to manage everyday life at home, without recess, and without going to the clash? Isabelle Scaramal, head of the Youth Reception and Listening Point, and Jennifer Garni, psychologist within the service, take stock. 90% of adolescents usually followed wished to keep in touch during confinement, by telephone, video, by text. “It shows how much they need support. “
What are the difficulties encountered by teens during this period of confinement?
Isabelle Scaramal, PAEJ : “The adolescent needs to be outside, to build his autonomy. However, he is deprived of his peers, he is in a vacuum, cut off from the social aspect. He can experience confinement as a test, a threat: he feels trapped and that creates tensions, anxieties. For example, we have the case of a 14-year-old boy. He can’t stand it anymore but he can’t decompress like he used to playing music or finding refuge with his grandparents. There is this young girl separated from her boyfriend and whose fits of tears worry her mother. ”
Jennifer Garni, psychologist : “Confinement awakens a feeling of loneliness and possible moments of panic. Before the holidays, many teens suffered from the workload sometimes requested by teachers, from their difficulty in connecting to digital environments. They are worried about their education, their grades. Parents are also concerned about the subject. They feel helpless because they cannot keep up or because the computer equipment at home is not always sufficient. “
What risks after all this?
I.S. : “The context has amplified already worrying family situations. We will have work once the recovery, for sure. But I don’t think there is any risk of withdrawal. The desire to be together is too strong. On the other hand, some teens who suffer from social phobia are afraid that it will worsen. We must not forget the anxiety that can be linked to the disease, to the deaths that families face. “
J.G. : “During this period, it can be difficult to realize the loss of a loved one, it is complicated to grieve. The boomerang effect should not be overlooked. “
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What advice to give to both teens and parents?
I.S. : “Parents must rely on communication, without being too intrusive. You have to ask yourself what interests their teenagers, discover their world, test the video game on which they spend time, for example. “
J.G. : “There are strategies to express yourself, if you feel that the tone is rising, you have to isolate yourself. Resilience also applies to teens: they must learn to manage their anger – tap the pillow, turn the music on – to avoid spilling it on their parents. “
The argument would be inevitable?
I.S. : “No (smiles). Containment is also an opportunity to rediscover yourself. There is this single-parent family where the mother was far away. She fell ill, her children looked after her. A new relationship is born. More generally, this confinement is also the moment to create a bond, to get closer, to say things, to share. “
J.G. : “We sometimes have pleasant surprises, especially in blended families. At the beginning, the young people told us that they were not going to get there and over the weeks, we feel that the relationships are relaxing. They manage to exchange, to discover the other from another angle. “
PAEJ, rue de la Vieille-Porte in Thionville, tel. 03 82 84 61 12. On-call number: 07 86 15 89 12 or 06 74 48 29 38.
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