"When the thought of death comes up...": a quarter of young people aged 15 to 29 consider themselves to be depressed

A quarter of 15- to 29-year-olds are depressed . This is the result of a survey conducted by the Montaigne Institute with responses from more than 5,000 young people who completed an online questionnaire last April.

Women appear to be the most affected by the phenomenon: 27% compared to 22% for men. The peak of depression is said to be around 22-25 years old . Almost hidden under his hood, his gaze marked, Hugo explains that he has difficulty falling asleep. “It’s very hard. I go to bed very late, sometimes at 5 a.m. when I get up at 8 a.m.,” he sighs.

It is the fear of the future that worries him.

“Everything is more expensive. We feel like we have no future. We feel like we have to earn a huge salary to be able to support ourselves and have decent housing,” he emphasizes.

For Marie, 19, her depression started during her school years. “The pressure of grades, the pressure of how I'm going to do in school, the pressure of not getting criticized for some reason or another… It plays a big role, especially when you're young,” she says.

A third of those surveyed said they had considered suicide or self-harm. This was the case for Hillary, who is currently undergoing a career change.

“I told myself that I'm actually in so much pain that I'm never going to make it and I just want it to stop. When the thought of death comes up, it's not too late but it's the right time to talk about it,” she emphasizes.

She has since been seeing a psychiatrist. Florine and Léonie, for their part, have given up on consulting. “Even if it can be reimbursed, it's still a budget to have because you have to pay the costs upfront. And I don't know many practitioners who take on new patients,” they say.

The study states that nearly 4 out of 10 young people have never met a psychologist or psychiatrist.