A third of the French consider that the crisis affects their morale, 45-59 year olds (40%), the self-employed (44%) and poor households (44%) being even more likely to think so. More than half of the French are said to be worried about their loved ones because of the crisis.
But, contrary to popular belief, suicide is on the decline, accounting for less than 2% of deaths. Depression, in its most severe form, is stable at around 3%. Young people are said to be particularly affected by this psychological distress, with anxiety peaking among 15-19 year olds. But, the active, with a rejuvenation of the population, and women are currently the most exposed.
Women and men develop different mental health profiles. Women develop symptoms or pathologies, such as psychological distress, stress, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and are twice as likely as men to have taken psychotropic drugs during the year, regardless of age (24.3% of women against 13.8% of men in the 18-75 age group).
Men are more prone to addictions than women and develop more violent behavior.
In addition, the elderly commit suicide more than the average. Those over 85 have six times higher rates of completed suicides than those aged 15-24. Divorced people and widowers or widowers have the highest suicide death rates.
Conversely, single and married people have the lowest death rates by suicide.
The study “The French and mental health” was carried out for this report in October 2009, with a sample of more than 1,000 people representative of the French population aged 15 and over.
