A new report has studied levels of depression in Europe and among older and younger individuals, with the outlook for France looking particularly bleak.
ADVERTISEMENTFrance may have had the highest pre-pandemic level of depression among European countries, according to a new analysis of a 2019 health survey across the continent.
Analysis by the statistical service of the French Ministries of Health and Social Affairs (DREES) found that the depression rate in France was around 11% before the pandemic, which was the highest of any other European country .
The report was based on data from the European Health Interview Survey, conducted every six years and covering some 300,000 people in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Serbia.
It was the first time that DREES used the 2019 survey to measure depression and the prevalence was estimated based on eight questions from the Patient Health Questionnaire.
The analysis examined “whether or not a person had suffered from depressive syndromes in the last two weeks, based on a series of criteria”, Lisa Troy, the author of the study from the department of research and international studies of the directorate.
It comes as several studies have highlighted a growing mental health crisis in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among young people in France and other European countries.
The new DREES report also focuses on young people aged 15 to 24 and people aged 70 and over.
Jocelyne Caboche, emeritus research director at the Neurosciences Sorbonne University (Neuro-SU) laboratory of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), told Euronews Health that even if she did not have an explanation for France experiencing a “relatively” higher level of depression compared to other countries, this could be due to “element accumulation”.
“Even though we are relatively well taken care of in terms of health and education, significant efforts still need to be made to care for the elderly,” said Caboche, who was not involved in the study.
She added that depression could improve with better investment in psychiatry and therapeutic innovation.
What factors contribute to depression in European countries?
Overall, the new analysis showed that the highest levels of depression were in northern and western European countries.
But while depression is rare among young people in southern and eastern European countries, it is higher among people aged 70 and over in these countries, according to the report.
Depression rates exceeded 15 percent among older people in Portugal, Romania and Croatia, for example.
Older women were also more depressed than older men, according to the survey data, and older Europeans in poor health were more prone to depression.
As more older Europeans report poor health in Eastern and Southern European countries, this could explain the higher prevalence of depression in these countries, the report’s authors say.
ADVERTISEMENT“For example, in Croatia or Latvia, where almost 40 percent of older people report poor health, the prevalence of depression is high: 16 percent and 9 percent respectively,” note the authors of the report.
Being socially isolated and widowed also appears to impact depression in older adults.
Among young Europeans, the highest rates of depression were recorded in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, followed by Western European countries. Depression among young people was lower in Eastern and Southern European countries.
“I was impressed by the differences between rates of depression among young and old people in southeastern (European) countries and conversely by the idea that young people were very depressed in (northern European) countries. Europe) and that this is the only region where, among older people, depression decreased with age,” Troy said.
ADVERTISEMENTIn countries where rates of depression are higher among young people, it is linked to social isolation, not having a professional activity, not going to school and income level .
Caboche added that social media may also play a role “in promoting harmful social comparisons, concerns around body image, particularly among girls, reducing sleep duration and increasing the risks of cyber-harassment “.
Poor health among young people also significantly increases the risk of depression by about 32 percentage points, according to the report.
He added that EHIS data may have limitations, including differences in questionnaire methods for mental health problems between countries.
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