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France, the world’s most depressed nation?
France was proclaimed “world champion of misery” by its own press this week after a report published in the US rated the French as most likely to suffer from clinical depression. The statistics are there, but is the reality?
By Sophie PILGRIM (text)
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report published in the US last week signalled French people as the most likely to suffer from a “major depressive episode” in their lifetimes, provoking sensational headlines among the more neurotically-inclined members of the Gallic press.
The study, which was conducted by researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook as part of the WHO's World Mental Health Survey Initiative, was published on July 26 by esteemed American journal BMC Medicine. Some 90,000 people were probed on their mental health histories in 18 low- and high-income countries. It has been touted as the first international survey of its kind.
The results are impressive – while participants from low-income countries appeared less likely to suffer from depression at some point in their life, those from high-income nations seemed far more likely to suffer. France topped the list by one percentage point.
The deafening conclusion – “France, a depressed nation” or “Depression: France tops world ranking,” soon hit the headlines. The notion is not entirely novel to the French, who learned in 2008 that they consume more anti-depressants than any other country.
This new evidence served as further fuel to the pessimists, who eagerly offered up an array of fantastic explanations for the nation’s unparalleled tristesse. An article on health forum Psychiatrie.fr blamed, among other things: financial woes, the government’s raising of the retirement age, too much Prozac, and finally, that notorious “French tradition” -- post-holiday January blues.
Online comments went ever further, suggesting that French people are too intellectual for their own good, that they are born cynical, or even that they don’t take enough recreational drugs to get them through the day. According to one seemingly well-travelled commentator, Londoners and Quebecois steer clear of doom and gloom with a constant supply of cocaine and amphetamines.
Depressed or obsessed?
“We cannot conclude from this study that the French are more depressed than people from any other country,” says mental health researcher, Xavier Briffault, of France’s national research institute, CNRS. “The results of research like this are incredibly sensitive to the methods used to obtain them.”
Briffault, who worked on a 2008 study into the methodology of mental health research, argues that asking the same question of someone in France, and then India, for example, will not provoke the same response. “In developed countries people are very accustomed to hearing and talking openly about depression,” he explained in an interview with FRANCE 24. “In low-income countries that is not the case.” The translation and cultural adaptation of questions so that they can be understood across the board in many countries, Briffault says, is near impossible.
And while the WHO study included a lengthy screening programme and face-to-face interviews, it was up to those selected to decide whether they would take part or not. The average response rate was 71.7%, but in France it reached just 45.9%, making the French sample unrepresentative in terms of size.
Briffault also dismissed France’s high level of anti-depressant consumption as proof of the extent of the problem. “High consumption doesn’t indicate depression levels,” he said. “It indicates doctors’ willingness to prescribe the drugs.”
On the forums however, they’ve made their minds up for themselves. France is depressed and everybody should know why. “It’s obvious,” one commentator insists. “We spend too much time reading surveys.”
Top photo courtesy of 'bloowitt' under the Creative Commons license.
Follow Sophie Pilgrim on Twitter: @sophiepilgrim.
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I have been living in France
I have been living in France since 2006 and I have never felt more free and happy in any other country before, yet I have lived in Slovakia, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden. France is the last country on this planet where people are not afraid of the authority and even the police is reasonable. It is in no way backward, it values the spirituality more than the Anglo-saxon materialism that has crept into almost every other country in Europe! The 18th century values, the era where honesty, chivalry, honour, valour meant more than cheap democracy and freedom are what we are missing nowadays.
I will cite Edmund Burke, an Irish philosopher of the time, who understood what real democracy and freedom is about!
"But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists; and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever. Never, never more shall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom. The unbought grace of life, the cheap defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise, is gone! It is gone, that sensibility of principle, that chastity of honor which felt a stain like a wound, which inspired courage whilst it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled whatever it touched, and under which vice itself lost half its evil by losing all its grossness."
Does anyone even wonder why?
Does anyone even wonder why? France, the country that had been leading Europe and the whole civilized world in human development has been pushed aside by so called "new world", slowly, but surely eroding and replacing our European traditions and sound values with artificial economic growth and forced global marketing. Even the proud pan-European language that was once spoken on every court of Europe has been replaced by a something that has no connection to the nuances of our expression, accumulated over 2000 years. Just think about it, when someone comes and replaces your expensive china with a cheap plastic, telling you that it is the newest trend, that everyone wants, would you not be depressed?
Does anyone even wonder why?
Does anyone even wonder why? France, the country that had been leading Europe and the whole civilized world in human development has been pushed aside by so called "new world", slowly, but surely eroding and replacing our European traditions and sound values with artificial economic growth and forced global marketing. Even the proud pan-European language that was once spoken on every court of Europe has been replaced by a something that has no connection to the nuances of our expression, accumulated over 2000 years. Just think about it, when someone comes and replaces your expensive china with a cheap plastic, telling you that it is the newest trend, that everyone wants, would you not be depressed?
I have been living in France
I have been living in France for the past 6 months and never felt so depressed anywhere else in the world. I lived most of my life in the US and a bit in UK (4-5 years) and now in France and I think I know the reason why French are so depressed. My biggest problem with France is - the people - very selfish, very individualistic, very detached, aloof and also extremely backward, provincial and myopic in their thinking. The reason for all this - is because France is not progressing and moving in the right direction. The French are fighting too hard to hold on to their 18th century values and way of life and do not want to accept change in a modern world and move forward with the world. Majority of French also still think that France can still regain its status as a world superpower - when European countries were super powers was when America, India, China, etc did not even exist as democratic nations... now Europe has to accept the fact that they did the good stuff and need to sit back as well as accept reality. EU as a union of states can still be a bit progressive but individually these countries are too small now to have any worldwide influence.....but we do appreciate what they did in the past. Anyway - I think this is the reason why French are so depressed because they are not "progressing" - the country is not progressing and the people aren't either because they are part of this sad slow system here. French people lack energy, enthusiasm or drive - they are very laid back, quiet and into themselves mostly...even if they socialize it is on a very individualistic level - almost like they just come together to eat a meal and drink but don't really "communicate" with each other or show any true feelings for each other. When I drive in french villages and see big beautiful houses - I also notice a "gloom" over those houses...like the people bought the house to keep it to themselves and never open the doors to people...whereas in America everyone has house parties all the time. I think I will move to Spain or Italy soon since they seem to be the happiest people in Europe....maybe at some point France will change and become happy but it can only happen if they accept the new world and move on with it rather than being stuck in the past.
The French
I'm not French but I've lived in Paris for several years. I think the French are a sensitive, proud people, some of whom have told me they feel life in France is not what it used to be, and they believe their best days are behind them. I try to tell them that France is still a unique and beautiful country - but I'm not sure they believe it. I wish they could see France through my eyes: an exquisitely beautiful country with an incredible history that fought to become a great democracy - and that possibly influenced American democracy as well.
Depressing enough as it is.
The French don't care enough to get really depressed. They leave that up to others.
France, the world’s most depressed nation?
I've been back in France for 10 years in which time my depression barometer has hit rock bottom due to the incessant administrative paperwork. If you can't go physically to the tresorerie, the caf, the cpam everytime they want another lot of questions answered time and time again, you can swallow a lot of tablets for the headache you get.
hilarious comments in here
clearly a case of offended national pride here and the usual unwillingness of the French to admit and tackle issues affecting their country. It's the same on the French & EU sovereign debt. It was denied to be a problem until it really hit! La Politique de l'Autruche! We should change the national emblem from the Coq to the Ostrich!
Fact is France is the country consuming the highest dose of anti-depressants, whether it means doctors are more willing to prescribe them maybe, but doctors prescribe to a problem otherwise they would not prescribe ... one would hope!
France most depressed nation
France does appallingly lack trained psychologists and therapists who might diagnose early onset of clinical depression and thus non pharmaceutical measures to help.
The article is amusing and another good excuse for taking the Mickey out of the French but it doesn't say where the scientists who designed the questions came from and what their cultural expectations were. Take 100 scientists designing parameters for depression from India and 100 from China and 100 from the US and the cultural expectations and very definition of depression will be different.
France, the world’s most depressed nation?
I seen India being 9% and USA is 19.2% how about the USA business come back to USA where it belongs and our people wont be suffering as much.