In 2019, France was the more depressed country in Europe

A new report has studied levels of depression throughout Europe, in the elderly and the youngest. The figures for France seem particularly dark.

France may have had the highest pre-Pandemic depression rate among European countries, according to a new analysis of a health survey carried out in 2019 across the continent.

The analysis of the Statistical Service of the French Ministries of Health and Social Affairs (DREES) revealed that the rate of depression in France was approximately 11 % before the pandemic, the highest rate of all other European countries .

The report is based on the data of the European survey by health interview, carried out every six years with some 300,000 people in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Serbia.

This is the first time that the Drees has used the2019 survey To measure depression and prevalence was estimated from eight questions from the patient's health questionnaire.

The analysis sought to know “If a person had suffered from depressive syndromes in the past two weeks on the basis of a series of criteria or not from the past two weeks”told Euronews Health Lisa Troy, the author of the study in the Department of Research and International Management Studies.

This report comes when numerous studies have highlighted an increasing crisis in mental health in the years that followed the Pandemic of COVID-19, especially among young people in France and in other European countries.

The new DREES report was also interested in young people aged 15 to 24 and people aged 70 and over.

Jocelyne Caboche, Research Director emeritus in the Neurosciences Sorbonne University (Neuro-SU) laboratory of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), told Euronews Health that it had no explanation for the higher “relatively” level of depression in France compared to other countries, but that it could be due to an “accumulation of elements”.

“If we are relatively well taken care of in terms of health and education, significant efforts remain to be made in terms of care for the elderly”said Ms. Caboche, who did not participate in the study.

She adds that depression could improve thanks to better investment in psychiatry and therapeutic innovation.

What are the factors that contribute to depression in European countries?

Overall, the new analysis has shown that the highest levels of depression were in the European and West European countries.

But if depression is rare in young people in the countries of southern and Eastern Europe, it is more frequent in people aged 70 and over in these countries, according to the report.

Depression rates were greater than 15 % in the elderly in Portugalin Romania and Croatia, for example.

According to survey data, elderly women are also more depressed than elderly men, and elderly Europeans are more inclined to depression.

According to the authors of the report, the fact that a larger number of elderly Europeans declare themselves in poor health in the countries of Eastern and South Europe could explain the higher prevalence of depression in these countries.

“For example, in Croatia or Latvia, where almost 40 % of the elderly declare themselves in poor health, the prevalence of depression is high: 16 % and 9 % respectively”, Note the authors of the report.

Social isolation and widowhood also seem to have an impact on depression in the elderly.

Among young people Europeans, the highest depression rates have been recorded in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, followed by the countries of Western Europe. Depression among young people was lower in the countries of Eastern and South Europe.

“I was impressed by the differences between depression rates in young people and the elderly in the countries of the Southeast [de l’Europe] and, conversely, by the idea that young people were very depressed in [les pays du nord de l’Europe] And that it is the only region where, in the elderly, depression decreased with age “said Ms. Troy.

In countries where depression rates are higher among young people, They are linked to social isolationin fact not having professional activity or not going to school, and at the income level.

Ms. Caboche added that Social media can also play a role “by promoting harmful social comparisonsconcerns related to body image, especially in girls, by reducing the duration of sleep and increasing the risks of cyberbullying “.

According to the report, poor health in young people also significantly increases the risk of depression, of some 32 percentage points.

The report adds that EHIS data may have limits, including differences in questionnaire methods on mental health issues from one country to another.

Tags France