One year after its very first edition, the Nightline association, committed to mental health of young people and students, publishes his second Mental Health Report : a report on student mental health, co-written by volunteers across 6 European countries. The report analyzes 23,000 calls and chats from students seeking help, received in 2025 by 32 nighttime listening services (“ nightlines« ) led by students. One year after the first edition of its Mental Health Report, new data from Nightline Europe reveals the persistence of a deep crisis in student mental health. Communiqué.
What do the 16,000 cumulative hours of listening reveal about the distress of young people? They speak above all of loneliness, precariousness, violence or uncertainty about the future, revealing in passing “a host of social, relational and environmental factors”, underlines the report. In France, some of the 7 appeal themes and 16 sub-themes are particularly significant compared to other European countries:
• As in the first edition of the report, “loneliness” and social bonding remain a significant markerficause of student distress in Franceconfirming this issue as a major factor in the weakening of student mental health in France.
• The reasons for appeals relating to romantic relationships, “sexuality” as well as “violence” also occupy the first place on the podium in France. Combined together, the sub-themes relating to “romantic relationships” and “sexual violence” thus reach 23% of exchanges (ahead of Germany at 14.7%), and those relating to questions of “discrimination/harassment” and “body image” reach 18%. Data that echo recent alerts on the rise of VSS and masculinist discoursesWho “no longer relate only to isolated individual practices, but are part of collective logics” according to the High Council for Gender Equality in its inventory in January 2026.
• Suicide, leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds in the European Unionfinally remains one of the most worrying signals in France: it represents 12.5% of contacts recorded per year in France and up to 14.3% of chats in 2025the highest levels in the Nightline Europe network.
“All these results remind us that student distress cannot be dissociated from the environments in which young people evolve“, underlines Nightline Europe. The association recalls thatacting sustainably in favor of student mental health necessarily implies “going beyond an approach solely focused on curative care to intervene on all of these determinants, and invest more in prevention and public policies at the crossroads of the determinants of young people’s mental health.
As such, initiatives led by peers and approaches “ by and for » young people and students play an essential role in the development of mental health skills, the reduction of stigma, the strengthening of social bonds and the early identification of distress situations.
« Che data shows a reality that students express every day: mental health cannot be understood solely from the angle of individual psychological suffering. It is closely linked to living conditions, social ties, violence, precariousness and future prospects.« , Louise Sanna, development manager of Nightline Europe.
QUELQUES CHIFFRES CLÉS SUR LA SANTÉ MENTALE ÉTUDIANTE EN EUROPE :
• Un jeune Européen sur deux âgé de 15 à 30 ans déclare avoir rencontré des difficultés émotionnelles ou psychosociales au cours des douze derniers mois (Commission européenne).
• 50 % des Européens ont vu leur santé mentale affectée par les crises mondiales récentes (Commission européenne). • Près de la moitié des jeunes adultes de 18 à 29 ans ayant besoin d'un soutien en santé mentale ne bénéficient pas d'une prise en charge adéquate (OCDE). Les données nationales confirment cette tendance :
● France : hausse de 21,5 % des épisodes dépressifs chez les 15-29 ans en 2024, et progression continue des idées suicidaires chez les étudiant·es entre 2016 et 2024.
● Royaume-Uni : les troubles de santé mentale ont été multipliés par cinq en dix ans parmi les étudiants, avec une hausse de 28 % des abandons d'études pour raisons psychiques entre 2018 et 2023.
● Suisse : un jeune sur cinq (16-25 ans) présente des symptômes dépressifs “modérés à sévères”, avec des taux plus élevés chez les jeunes femmes (Obsan, 2025).
● Allemagne : la majorité des études concluent à une santé mentale “plus dégradée” chez les étudiants que dans la population générale, tendance accentuée depuis la pandémie.
● Autriche : augmentation des taux de dépression avec des effets “particulièrement marqués” chez les 18-34 ans et les personnes à faibles revenus.
● Irlande : niveaux “élevés” de détresse psychologique documentés au sein de la population étudiante (Cullinan et al., 2024).
1– Nightline France is a non-profit association committed to the mental health of young people and studentsthrough actions of support, guidance and awareness. Our mission: to offer accessible and adapted resources to young people, designed by and for them, with the support of professionals.
