“I am 32 years old, and being 20 today is quite difficult. With this simple observation, YouTuber Cyrus North, spokesman for the Nightline association, which already offers a 7-day-a-week online listening service for students and students open from 9:00 pm to 2:30 am via phone and chat, announced on Monday the launch of a “kit for survival.” The latest data on student mental health is indeed alarming, with 68% reporting suffering from at least one depressive symptom, nearly double the rate in the general population. “The economic crisis, Trump, young vests, terrorist attacks, covid, the war in Ukraine, all against the backdrop of a climate emergency, it’s hard to project yourself. When I was 20, it was much easier than it is today,” insists the young videographer.
“Tell us how you really are? »
The purpose of the site, developed by Nightline, is simple: to provide resources for discussing your mental health. “When you have a severe migraine, you have reflexes to rest, calm down, etc. When it comes to mental health, we are helpless,” illustrates Lucille Regourd, Nightline campaign manager.
Getting into trouble or helping a loved one, the survival kit thus enumerates the possibilities in two different directions. The first, for students who need help or a means to get better, allows you to determine what you need based on how you feel.
When answering the question “Tell us how you’re really doing,” whether it’s “good,” “we don’t have the words to talk about it,” or everything is going great, each answer leads us to “come up with a number of resources: behavioral activation, relaxation, a mini-vocabulary, some tips for dealing with your ailments, etc.
When you are healthy, you can help others
“On an individual level, we invite everyone to prepare to take care of themselves or their loved ones: learn to recognize our emotions, regulate them, know what makes us feel good and at least good.” , emphasizes Natalie Rudo, General Delegate of Nightline. With the goal of having all the resources available throughout the year, including when things are going well.
To help others, the “How to help a loved one” section works on the same principle: all you have to do is allow yourself to go through the site and answer a few questions in order to be able to “notice the warning signs”, “start a discussion”, listening to what to do when a friend is thinking about suicide, resources, etc. The association, which has set itself the goal of “rebuilding social connections, engaging in prevention and offering tools to reverse the trend,” according to Erkan, president of Nightline, also wants to give more one mental health image.
Equipping loved ones also means destigmatization, because pushing the door to the doctor for treatment isn’t always easy. “We can clearly see that students who come to counseling at the university are already somewhat of an elite: they have the knowledge and courage to do so, as well as the ability to manipulate the strange concept of going to one. very intimate to talk to him about his mental health,” says Christophe Tsouriau, director of health services at the University of Bordeaux, who has been working on student health for more than a decade.
Most of the decisions will come from the students themselves
An initiative that Victoire Docer, the association’s ambassador, like Cyrus North, would like to have at hand. The former Elite agency model and actress suffered from an eating disorder. “The problem is that there was no information, no help, no support, and when I got into it, I was 17, I did not express my emotions in words, nor my pain. »
According to Christophe Zurio, a topic that has grown with covid “should become unsurpassed so that we roll up our sleeves and act pragmatically to find solutions”: “Most of the solutions will come from the students themselves, because there will always remain misunderstandings from the higher generations! »
Source: Le Parisien
