What Really Makes the French Depressed?
France is beautiful! There is so much culture and history, so why are the French depressed? Read the possible reasons why the French have mélancolie here.
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1. They don’t get a lot of good sack sessions anymore.2. The croissants are no longer authentic.3. Fears of a global wine shortage.4. Joie de vivre is overrated. Gloomy is fashionable.5. Extended post-holiday blues.6. The French are artistic.7. Everyone is ridiculously beautiful.8. Over-thinking.9. Everyone is talking about how depressed the French are.Much has been said about that certain mélancolie (melancholy in French) common to the French, but let’s take a look at the 9 other highly probable reasons behind French depression. (Note: Take this list with a huge grain of salt!)
The French are depressed. So say a lot of articles and books and surveys. But before we dive into the nitty-gritty, here are some gloomy headlines and dated survey findings from the early 2010s. Pessimism and descriptions of the national mood measure something different from clinical depression:
- French pessimism made plenty of headlines in the early 2010s.
- In a February 2013 Viavoice poll, seven out of ten respondents described France and the French as being in a “collective depression”. That’s a whopping 70%! (collective gasp!) This was an opinion about the collective mood, rather than a report that 70% had clinical depression.
- Use of psychotropic medicines was widespread: the 2010 French health survey found that 18.3% of adults aged 18–75 in mainland France had used them in the previous year, with higher use among women. These included tranquilizers, sleeping pills and antidepressants. The period’s press also discussed the scale of medicine use (source).
- A 2011 study using World Health Organization interviews found France among the countries with the highest estimated lifetime prevalence of major depressive episodes in its comparison of 18 countries. The findings describe those historical survey samples.
Such morose numbers and dismal data. All these despite the finest food in the world sitting on their plates, the legal 35-hour standard work week, awesome social benefits, great wine, long holidays, and a picturesque countryside. Mais pourquoi? Why oh why???
Oh the gloom and doom! Henri le chat noir knows this fathomless ennui and despair.
Commentators have all pitched in and put their brainy heads together to suggest reasons behind the gloomy national mood. Here’s what they’ve argued:
- It’s the economy, silly. Unemployment was high when this article was first written in 2013.
- They’re suffering some sort of identity crisis in these new, highly globalized times.
- Critics have blamed the school system and its elitist grading system, arguing that high expectations and standards can make children undervalue themselves at an early age.
- Nostalgia over the lost grandeur of the former French empire and its former influence over the world.
- Fears over the decline in the welfare state, education system, and healthcare system.
- Too many taxes.
- Resistance to globalization.
- They’re lamenting the gradual loss of traditional French values.
- An unreachable French ideal that most people believe they are not living up to.
- Stubborn hierarchical social structures that breed distrust and envy, an explanation attributed to political analyst Nicolas Tenzer in a 2013 interview.
If all those reasons aren’t enough to make you feel depressed, I’m not sure what will. Surely the experts are on to something. And of course, all the letters attached to their names see to it that you know they know what they’re talking about. But seriously, there have to be some other reasons to be depressed in French, right?
Here let’s take a look at the other highly probable causes of the French depression. Well, in my own opinion, at least.
1. They don’t get a lot of good sack sessions anymore.
Older surveys challenged that famous French-lover reputation (whoaa — whaaatt?). In an IFOP/Lilly survey conducted in August 2009, 53% of respondents who said they had sexual relations reported a decline in desire or physical attraction within the couple. A 2010 press report also discussed sexual and relationship troubles. These were dated survey snapshots, rather than a verdict on everyone’s sex life.
That, for sure, is a helluva lot of reason to get depressed. Don’t you think?? Anyone would be depressed.
2. The croissants are no longer authentic.
This is also another real reason to get depressed. Back in 2012, reports lamented the growth of factory-made croissants and other viennoiseries in traditional bakeries. The source of the sad news here.
Hey you, un-real little croissant, how you break my heart
3. Fears of a global wine shortage.
Another collective gasp! Back in 2013, headlines warned about wine supplies, and wet weather and storms made Bordeaux’s harvest particularly difficult. Update 2014: French wine production rose again.
4. Joie de vivre is overrated. Gloomy is fashionable.
Just as black is very becoming and never goes out of style, so does moroseness for the French. Hopefully the campaign slogan of the fashion brand Morgan de Toi would do a little bit to alleviate all this well-tailored haute couture bleakness. Happy is the new chic. Maybe this trend would soon catch fire. Who knows?
Happy is, like, really fun! You should try it!
5. Extended post-holiday blues.
Considering that French employees generally have five weeks of paid annual leave, it could be possible that the country is suffering from major post-vacation depression (PHD).
6. The French are artistic.
And you know what they say about artists – they’re a depressed lot. It has been said by too many people that creative folks like authors, artists, poets, musicians, performers, and other artsy types are more plagued by sorrow and depression than the rest of the general population. So what do you think would become of a nation made up of a long history and generations of artists? Makes sense? To our befuddled minds, it does. Just take a look at these rather dour words by Van Gogh.
“Sometimes moods of indescribable anguish, sometimes moments when the veil of time and fatality of circumstances seemed to be torn apart for an instant.”- Vincent Van Gogh
7. Everyone is ridiculously beautiful.
It could probably get exceedingly difficult to keep up and stay pretty all the damn freaking time.
8. Over-thinking.
Ignorance is bliss while thinking too much could only lead to depression. The French, however, have turned over-thinking into an art form. They call it joie de penser, or joy found in thinking that “derives pleasure from its displeasure”. Too much philosophizing and existential musings can’t be good for your happiness levels at all. Just ask the people on this list.
9. Everyone is talking about how depressed the French are.
Did anyone ever stop to think that all the headlines about depression and the BIG talks revolving around the French being innately depressed is turning out to be one big self-fulfilling prophecy? Keep talking about how depressed a group of people are and they’re most likely to become just that. It’s the Law of Attraction at play, people.
So really. Maybe we should just stop talking about this altogether. Like, right now.
