Ecological crisis, wars, health risks, lack of prospects… “One cannot imagine the extent to which speeches of ‘despair’ and fatalistic messages have consequences at an age when we are evolving.”reports Charles-Edouard Notredame, psychiatrist at the University Hospital (CHU) of Lille, who coordinates the national suicide prevention hotline 3114.

In the mouths of doctors, psychiatrists and child psychiatrists who are on the front lines confronted with the suffering of adolescents and young adults, one observation comes back: the anxiety-inducing context, although it is far from the only explanation for the discomfort of a marginalized group of young people, weighs on the minds the human. But it’s a tangle of factors that leads to “dark thoughts” or suicide attempts in some young people. Young people seem to be becoming more and more numerous: this is the trend shown by the barometer on the subject published on February 6th by Public Health France.

This declarative survey, carried out in 2021 – Year II of the Covid-19 health crisis – with a sample of almost 30,000 people aged 18 to 85, highlighted the deterioration in mental health of 18 to 24 year olds Spotlight: Reports Suicidal thoughts have more than doubled in this age group since 2014, rising from 3.3% to 7.2%. A development that is all the more striking as the data for other age groups tends to stagnate and the prevalence for all respondents is 4.2%.

Saturated services

Among young adults, suicide attempts reported in the last twelve months have also increased by more than 60% (from 0.7% in 2017 to 1.1% of this age group in 2021); over the same period by 50% (from 6.1% to 9.2%). A break from previous barometers, which since the early 2000s have periodically returned results for this age group that were lower or comparable to those of older respondents.

A “significant change”supports Public Health France, which is confirmed by other measures that show that it continues: the number of visits to emergency rooms for suicidal thoughts and gestures was higher in 2022 and 2023 than in 2021, reports the public body.

The observation is widely shared locally: when the shock of Covid-19 and its restrictions subsides, the demand for care among young adults and adolescents will not weaken. On the contrary: overloaded child psychiatry and psychiatry services, ever-increasing delays in accessing a consultation (up to six months after a suicide attempt, although a visit to the doctor within the following month is generally recommended), providing protected rooms for pediatric emergencies “TS” (suicide attempts), Beds occupied by young “suicidal” pediatric patients…Neither the hospital nor community medicine see the wave receding.

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