Nearly one in two people who have suffered from psychological difficulties, particularly men, people suffering from a depressive state, or those from working-class and rural backgrounds, do not speak about it to those around them or to a health professional, according to a study published by Public Health France (SpF).
Mental health remains too taboo. This is the observation drawn from the latest results of the CoviPrev survey launched in 2020 and published Tuesday March 24 by Public Health France (SpF). This study surveyed in 2022 and 2023, 2,919 people out of a total of 8,010 individuals questioned who declared having felt discomfort or psychological difficulties over the last twelve months. It highlights that 49% of those questioned, or almost one in two, declared that they had no “spoken to no one, neither to those around them nor to health professionals”.
Nearly one in two people do not express their discomfort
Among those who expressed their discomfort the least, we first find men aged over 65 (41%), people with depression (44%), those living in rural areas (47%) and workers (46%). People in the other half of the sample (51%), on the contrary, had confided in a health or mental health professional (29% of them), a member of their family (25%), a friend (19%), a work colleague (7%) or various communication channels: telephone crisis line, social networks, association, etc. (9%). Finally, the individuals who managed to express themselves about their psychological difficulties were much more numerous among executives and higher intellectual professions (59%), people who perceived themselves to be in a good financial situation (54%), young people under 35 (57%), women (53%), people in employment (53%).
“Reduce stigma”
These results show “the importance of deploying actions to facilitate discussion around psychological suffering and reduce stigma”with a “special attention” for people “least likely to express themselves on this subject”underline the authors of the study. “The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of populations on a global scale,” they recall.
