The health crisis caused by the three-year Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on the mental health of the population. The increase in the number of people suffering from depressive disorders has been “unprecedented” since 2017, according to the latest Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (a peer-reviewed journal), published on Tuesday, February 14, by French public health agency Santé Publique France (SPF).
Overall, 13.3% of people aged 18-75 experienced a depressive episode during 2021, up 36% from 2017. The increase is major among young adults (18-24 years), with 20.8% of this age group affected in 2021, compared with 11.7% four years earlier, an increase of nearly 80%. Young women are more impacted (26.5%) than young men (15.2%).
These figures come from SPF’s barometer, which surveyed 24,514 people ages 18 to 85 by telephone and online, according to a random survey that has regularly assessed the population’s psychological health status since 2005.
The health agency uses a short version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview questionnaire, developed by the World Health Organization, to identify a typical depressive episode. This corresponds to an episode of sadness or loss of interest lasting at least two consecutive weeks and at least three “secondary” symptoms (fatigue, weight loss or gain, sleeping problems, concentration problems, thoughts of death, etc.) with an impact on daily life. These episodes are qualified as mild, moderate or severe. “We expected this increase, but not at such a level, especially among young people,” said Christophe Léon, who is responsible for surveys in the mental health unit of SPF, and also one of the authors.
This high prevalence in the key 18-24 age group “is partly related to life situations – professional, family and financial – that have undoubtedly become more precarious in the context of the pandemic,” the journal authors point out.
“Social isolation caused by lockdown, uncertainties regarding studies and the future, the precariousness highlighted during the pandemic and probably the current anxiety-provoking context – climate crisis, war, and the economic situation – have weighed heavily on the youngest people,” explained Enguerrand du Roscoät, head of the mental health unit at SPF and co-author of the study. Having a history of mental disorders is also a risk factor.
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Stress caused by Covid-19
The survey states that “people living in large cities, especially in the Paris region, are most affected, as well as those who are not financially comfortable, who live alone or in single-parent families, who are unemployed.” In addition, “having experienced Covid-19 symptoms, the unprecedented stress caused by the pandemic and the resulting disease control measures appear to be major factors,” the authors note. Du Roscoät added that “women are more affected regardless of age. They are particularly exposed to more risk factors due to more complicated living conditions and lower incomes and they are subjected to more violence.”
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