hospitalizations among adolescents and young women “suddenly” increasing

New illustration of a deterioration in the mental health of young people: hospitalizations for attempted suicide or self-mutilation have increased “in a brutal and unprecedented way” among adolescent girls and young women in around fifteen years, describes a study published Thursday May 16. “Consistent with field observations and survey results warning of a deterioration in the mental health of adolescents and young women, the rate of hospitalization for self-inflicted acts is increasing suddenly and unprecedentedly in this population”, notes the studies and statistics department of social ministries (Drees) after work over the period 2007-2022 with Public Health France.

In 2022, nearly 85,000 people were hospitalized at least once, in medicine and surgery or in psychiatry, in connection with a self-inflicted act (suicide attempt, scarification, burns, blows against a wall, etc.). Nearly two in three (64%) were girls or women. Residents of more disadvantaged municipalities were also more affected.

Increase in hospitalizations before and during the pandemic

Started between 2015 and 2019, before the Covid pandemic, the progression of hospitalizations of adolescents and young women was interrupted in 2020, before starting again in 2021 “significantly more important”. In 2022, levels stabilized compared to 2021 among 10-14 year olds and continued to increase among 15-24 year olds. “in a less marked way”.

In medicine and surgery, the average rate of hospitalizations for self-inflicted procedures increased by 71% in 2021-2022 compared to 2010-2019 for girls aged 10-14, by 44% for 15-19 year olds, 21% among 20-24 year olds. The surge in psychiatry was even greater: +246% for 10-14 year olds, +163% for 15-19 year olds, +106% for 20-24 year olds.

Two thirds of hospitalizations of adolescents and young women for self-inflicted acts are linked to voluntary drug poisoning, compared to injuries inflicted by a sharp object and even more violent acts.

For 2023, other data show that in medicine and surgery, hospitalizations increased further for patients aged 10 to 14 and 20 to 24, but fell close to the 2022 level for 15-19 year olds. .

In psychiatry, the increase continued, but for all age groups and both sexes, possibly resulting “part of an improvement in statistical coding in these establishments”.

No “male counterpart” to this increase

The surge in hospitalizations for suicide attempts or self-harm among young girls and women, with a peak around the age of 15, is not found among older adults or among boys and young men. Conversely, these hospitalizations have declined continuously since 2010 among men and women aged 30-55, as per “a generational effect of people born in the 1970s and 1980s, who commit fewer acts than their elders at the same ages”.

Among boys and young men aged 10-24, these hospitalizations have remained stable over around fifteen years at levels much lower than those of young girls. And there was no particular increase in hospitalizations linked to risky behavior (physical attacks, transport accidents, taking toxic substances), possible “male counterpart to the increase in self-inflicted acts among girls”.

A national council for the refoundation (CNR) on mental health, promised by Emmanuel Macron, will take place in June and July, with “particular attention paid to the mental health of young people”indicated the Ministry of Health at the beginning of May.