This is not the first time that we have read that since Covid-19 and confinement, the French have much more fragile morale than before.
Public Health France publishes this February 14 a national survey representative of the population, carried out on more than 24,000 people, in the same way since 2005, making it possible to concretely study the impact of the epidemic on mental health in France. It concludes with a record increase in the number ofdepressive episodes in adults between 18 and 85 years old.
In 2021, 12.5% of respondents experienced a depressive episode. In general, the French are more depressed than in the years before. “A 36% increase in annual prevalence of depressive episodes was thus observed among individuals aged 18 to 75, going from 9.8% in 2017 to 13.3% in 2021”, notes Public Health France.
Sections of the population more at risk than others
But one age group is more affected than the others: young people, aged 18 to 24, where the rate reached 20%, an increase of 80% compared to the previous barometerproduced before the health crisis, in 2017.
“The stress caused by the Covid-19 disease and the restrictions imposed to control it appears to be one of the main explanatory hypotheses for this increase”, underlines the report. Moreover, this observation is reminiscent of other studies, such as data from the Oscour network which pointed to the increase in emergency room visits for mood disorders in 2021 (80% depressive disorders) in 18-24 year olds.
The study made it possible to isolate people more at risk of depression: if you are in financial difficulty, or unemployed, for example. But also if you live alone, if you are a parent of a single-parent family, or if you are a woman.
Source : Prevalence of depressive episodes in France among 18-85 year olds: results of the 2021 Health Barometer, Public Health France, February 13, 2023.
