Mental health: Why is France more affected by depression than other European countries?

The Great Depression did not wait for the Covid crisis to sweep across Europe. According to a study by the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), around 6% of Europeans already suffered from depressive syndromes in 2019.

According to the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Dress) which is publishing the figures from this study this Thursday, January 9, this rate is highest in France (11%).. Conversely, residents of countries in the South and East, such as Serbia or Cyprus, are much less concerned.

Young people particularly affected

Young people in Scandinavian countries present depressive syndromes more often than those in southern and eastern Europe.

At issue: the increasing use of social networks and mobile phones since 2010, which can “have multiple harmful effects on young people by promoting harmful social comparisons, intensifying concerns around body image, reducing sleep duration and increasing the risks of cyberbullying.

La Dress also emphasizes that this analysis dates from before the Covid-19 pandemic, period which has lastingly deteriorated the mental health of young people : “In France, we observed a notable increase in depressive and anxiety symptoms among young adults in 2020.”

Generally speaking, countries that have higher rates of depression among young people are also those where young people leave the parental home as soon as possible. In France, this average age is set at 24 years, while it is 32 years in Croatia. According to the study, family and social isolation could be an aggravating factor.

Among seniors, income has a limited effect on depression

The elderly are not left out. According to the Dress report, depression is common among the elderly, with a particularly high rate in France (16%, the fourth highest rate in Europe). However, this rate remains higher in southern European countries.

Older Europeans in poor health are systematically more likely to suffer from depressive syndromes than those in good health. For example, in Croatia, where nearly 40% of seniors report poor health, the rate of people suffering from depression reaches 16%.

All things being equal, being widowed increases the likelihood of suffering from depressionexcept in Northern Europe where the effect is not significant.

Finally, if the study shows that money – still – brings happiness, since wealthy elderly people are less often depressed, the analyzes carried out by Dress prove that the level of income “overall has no significant effect on depression. According to the report, if less well-off people are more depressed, it is not because of their income but rather because of their health condition: these people are more often widowed and benefit from a lower level of social support.