France pleads to provide youth between 3 and 17 with free counseling

Mental health of young people in the COVID-19 pandemic has become a major concern. Nearly a third of the French populations is reporting anxiety and depression and children have especially been affected by the pandemic. For instance doctors report increases in attempted suicides, self-harming, panic attacks, and other symptoms of mental anguish among youth. Psychiatrists say the deaths of loved ones with COVID-19, repeated disruptions to their lives and studies, and the clouding of their futures have had devastating effects on the mental health of alarming numbers of children and adolescents. French President Emmanuel Macron has promised free psychological counselling for children and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children between three and seventeen will be eligible for 10 free sessions with a psychologist if they have a doctor’s prescription. In addition to the emergency package, Macron has promised more structural changes to address the needs of understaffed and overwhelmed child psychiatry services in France.