Paris, 5 Dec (EFE).- Mental health problems with the pandemic are increasing in Europe but this evolution is especially serious among young people, as opposed to what happened before, becoming a group that is far more affected by depression than the entire adult population.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) explained in its comparative report on the health situation in Europe that while in 2019 the percentage of young people aged between 15 and 24 years with depressive symptoms was 6% and 7% for adults. , once the coronavirus arrived, the numbers reversed significantly in all countries for which data existed.

To the extent that the proportion of young people with depressive symptoms is at least 50% higher than the overall population, and in certain countries even double that.

So, for example, with the latest available statistics (for 2020 or 2021), in Norway young people experiencing depression have increased to 42.5%, compared to 17.1% for adults overall; in Austria up to 41.3% (compared to 23.7% of adults); or in Sweden up to 38.5% (compared to 17.1%).

Spain is in a group that has a very high percentage of young people with signs of depression: 35.3%, compared to 22.5% for all adults. Clearly above the UK (30% and 15% respectively); Italy (24.2% and 14.4%) or France (20.1% and 16.5%).

It is a widely accepted phenomenon that lockdowns and restrictions on movement psychologically harm young people disproportionately. But the decline in mental health care is also a particularly marked burden in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, compared to 2019.

The OECD has measured this decline in hospitalization, which is modest in Switzerland (2%) or relative in Nordic countries such as Norway (6%) or Sweden (6%), but much more pronounced in other countries such as Spain (12%). ) ), France (13%), Germany (14%) or Italy (23%), not to mention Hungary (27%), Lithuania (27%) or Poland (28%).

The only element allowing for optimism is trend: Spain has been the only European country where the percentage of adults at risk of depression has decreased, albeit almost negligibly, since 2020 (52% of the population), the first year of the pandemic, to spring 2022 (49%).

This percentage, however, appears to be very high, and while not as bad as the average 55% in the EU, it is higher than countries in a relatively better situation, namely the Netherlands (42%), Denmark (41%) and Slovenia (40%). EFE

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