Depression does not affect all regions of France uniformly. Rural areas do not seem to escape the development of this disease, while Ile-de-France residents, who are more subject to stress, consume fewer antidepressants according to the results of the study carried out by IMS Health, a company specializing in advice and studies on health.
IMS Health analyzed the medical information collected from doctors and 14,000 pharmacists in the 22 French regions to identify the areas most affected by the Depression.
The results of this study reveal that the Limousin is the most depressed region in France, with an antidepressant consumption index of 160 (compared to 100 for the whole country) and an average number of daily doses of antidepressants per inhabitant of 9.95. In the list published by IMS Health, we find then Auvergne and Poitou-Charentes, with respectively an index of 127 and 117 and daily doses per inhabitant of 7.89 and 7.29. The least depressed French are the Alsatians who consume only 4.3 doses of antidepressants per year, the Lorraine (5.31) and the Ile-de-France (5.26).
A crossover study
To deepen the understanding of depression in France, IMS Health has crossed its results with demographic data from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee).
This perspective revealed that 3 factors were strongly linked to the Depression : old age, disability and loneliness. On the other hand, and paradoxically, socio-economic factors are not responsible for depression. The unemployment rate, the right to RSA and the fact of living in a single-parent family are not correlated with the rate of depression.
Children are an excellent antidepressant
This study also showed that the consumption of antidepressants and rates of couples with children are strongly anti-correlated. The more children the couples have, the less the region consumes antidepressants. Paris, the city with the highest rate of single people and the fewest couples with children in France, consumes a lot of antidepressants with a consumption index of 113.
Psychiatric illnesses are the 3rd most common illnesses and affect 1 in 5 French people. In France, one in 5 people is at risk of experiencing mental disorders during their lifetime (depression, anxiety, addiction, eating disorder, schizophrenic disorder, bipolar disorder. ..), diseases which represent 8% of state health expenditure.
