The numbers echo “reports of a deterioration in the mental health of the French population, particularly (among) young people,” according to the report. French people between the ages of 12 and 25 are consuming more psychoactive drugs than in previous years, according to a report from the country’s national health system. This is especially true for antidepressants with the number of young people ages 12 to 25 per 1,000 with a prescription increasing by 55 per cent compared to an 8 per cent increase for 26 to 60-year-olds between 2019 and 2023.
Hypnotics, used for sleeping issues, also had an increase in prescriptions with the number of young people taking them up by 50 per cent compared to an 11 per cent decrease for the rest of the adult population. For antipsychotics, the number of young people per 1,000 taking them increased by 35 per cent compared to four per cent for other adults, the report went on. The study “echoes reports of a deterioration in the mental health of the French population, particularly for young people,” .
Young women accounted for most of the prescriptions and saw the largest increases in drug prescriptions. This gender difference regarding mental health among young Europeans was highlighted in a 2023 report by the World Health Organization (WHO). While these drugs can alleviate symptoms, “they can sometimes have significant side effects especially when they are prescribed to adolescents and young adults at a time of psychological maturation,” the WHO report warned.
The French national health report included 30 proposals to improve healthcare in the country. One proposal concerns young people’s mental health and suggests “improving support for GPs” and “encouraging the regional structuring of mental health care pathways to enable faster treatment”. “There are not and will not be enough child psychiatrists over the next 20 years, given demographic trends,” Bruno Falissard, president of the French Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, warned a couple of months ago company specialised in health.
To curb the problem of post-pandemic mental health issues, the European Commission unveiled several initiatives in 2023, including around €2 million to develop tools for children and young people to address healthy lifestyles and mental health..
