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« Unlike depressive episodes, the prevalence of which has significantly increased between 2017 and 2021 (…), the frequency of anxiety states has remained stable “Summarize the authors in the weekly epidemiological bulletin. A conclusion which leads to Public Health France, in this study published on July 22, to affirm that the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 did not lead to a lasting increase in anxious disorders in the French population.
Confinement, unprecedented health restrictions … Fears for mental health
COVID-19 Pandemic was experienced as a trauma. A vast meta-analysis published in The Lancet in October 2021 had concluded that the global prevalence of depressive disorders had increased by 27.6 % and that of anxiety disorders of 25.6 %, translating respectively 53 million and 76 million additional cases linked to the pandemic in 2020. The highest increases were observed in the regions subject to strict confinements, human mobility and at daily rates of high infection.
Public Health France therefore wanted to verify, in this study, if the health crisis had led to an increase in anxiety states. Conclusion: The results do not confirm this hypothesis. The study, based on telephone surveys carried out with 6,413 people in 2017 and 4,829 in 2021, from a questionnaire measuring the main anxious symptoms (anxiety anxiety and depression scale-HAD-A), shows on the contrary a stability of anxiety levels over the period, in 18-75 years.
That the Covid’s pandemic has not aggravated anxiety disorders may surprise, while the first studies showed a rapid increase in anxiety in France. According to the researchers, these initial peaks were probably temporary.
12.5 % of people had anxious symptoms
Should we rejoice? Yes and no. The study reveals that 12.5 % of those questioned have anxious symptoms in 2021. This figure is consistent with the Epicov survey, conducted in July 2021, which estimated, on the basis of the GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, self-assessment questionnaire designed to detect generalized anxiety disorders), than 11 % of the aged population of 16 or more had anxious syndrome.
Already very high, this overall rate also masks important social disparities. Indeed, the disorders are more frequent in people in financial difficulty, little graduated, or suffering from depressive comorbidities and suicidal thoughts.
A prevalence three times higher in women than in men
The prevalence is also very unevenly distributed by sex: 18.2 % in women against 6.4 % in men. The only notable exception, the 65-75 year old tranche, in which the frequency of anxious symptoms decreased by 5 points between 2017 (11.6 %) and 2021 (7 %).
Note: in France, other data from the French Public Health Barometer had confirmed the increase in depressive episodes characterized in the general population between 2017 and 2021 (+3.5 prevalence points among 18-75 year olds and +9 points in 18-24 year olds)
The new study in full here.
Source: Léon C, Gillaizeau I, du Roscoät E, Pelissolo A, Beck F. Prevalence of anxious states in 18-85 year olds: results of the French Health Barometer France (2017-2021). Bull Epidemiol Hebd. 2025; (14): 246-55; COVID- 19 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Global Prevalence and Burden of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in 204 Countries and Territories in 2020 due to the COVVI-19 Pandemic. Lancet. 2021 Nov 6; 398 (10312): 1700-1712; Léon C, du Roscoät E, Beck F. Prevalence of depressive episodes in France in 18-85 year olds: results of the health barometer 2021. Bull Epidemiol Hebd. 2023; (2): 28-40.
