On 17 March, 2020, France implemented its first nationwide lockdown in an effort to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus. What followed was a two-month period of strict confinement, mandatory mask-wearing, curfews and university closures. While the pandemic took a psychological toll on almost everyone, the lasting impact on young people has been severe.
The Covid lockdown has left psychological scars on young people in France.
Getty Images - Victor Dyomin
By: RFI
Issued on: 21/03/2025
In a bar in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, Maya orders an espresso. Five years ago, during the first Covid-19 lockdown, meeting like this in a café would have been impossible.
"I think it's crazy that we went through that, and now, I don’t think about it anymore. I love going out. I’m definitely not a homebody," the 24-year-old told RFI.
However, she does still have painful memories of that period. Her mother worked at the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and came home with news of terrible statistics every day.
But the worst, for Maya, came after that first lockdown. "I moved into an apartment on my own, but there I was much more isolated, I think. My studies were bothering me," she explains.
"Honestly, I kind of fell into depression during that time. It was weird because, at the same time, it was nice not to be confined anymore, in the sense that I was doing a lot of things in my apartment. But I wasn’t stimulated at all. I enjoyed my day itself, but I didn’t see the point of having a second one."
Maya is feeling better now and doesn’t miss an opportunity to go out. For her, it's a way to reclaim some of the youth that was stolen from her.
Five years on from the Covid-19 pandemic, what legacy has the virus left?
For other young people, however, the outside world has become threatening since the lockdowns. "I’m not necessarily going to walk around, visit Paris, go to museums or things like that alone," says Élisa, 28. "I’d like to do it more, but I don’t feel capable of it."
She has always been a bit of a homebody – she likes being in her tidy, cosy apartment, with a book in hand or watching a good TV series. But it was after the lockdown that her anxiety began.
"For example, going grocery shopping takes huge mental preparation. Or if I arrive in a place where I don’t know many people and I’m going to have to socialise, my body reacts, my body can’t breathe, without knowing why," she said.
"It really annoys me to be like this when I’m in Paris, I’m young, I’m 28. I have so many things to live for and I’m actually getting anxious about things that, objectively, aren’t a big deal."
Social media, eco-anxiety and international conflicts
According to a study of 20 million young people in France, published on 7 January in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "a significant increase in mental health consultations, hospitalisations, and prescriptions for antidepressants, mood stabilisers, and antipsychotics was found among young people, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic".
The findings continued: "This trend aligned with studies indicating that Covid-19 infection and lockdowns have had biological and societal impacts on the mental health of the youth."
The study also found that this change was particularly marked among females
But while the lockdown has left scars on France's young people, five years on it is not the sole cause of their distress.
"It’s true that these particular circumstances did weaken students, isolated them, and may have anticipated this decline in their mental health," says Melissa Macalli, a researcher at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) who studies the mental health of young adults.
She added: "It's also true that the causes are probably multiple: worsening instability, feelings of loneliness, the impact of social media. But also collective environmental factors that have been added – especially eco-anxiety, international conflicts and the global political situation, which worries them a lot."
This report was adapted from the RFI podcast Reportage en France produced by Lou Ecalle.
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