Mental health has been designated a major national cause in France for 2025, and then extended to 2026. This institutional framework changes the way prevention, education, and care systems address adolescents and young adults. Understanding these developments allows for a better grasp of the concrete levers available to parents, education professionals, and associations to support young people in facing current challenges.
Mental health of young people: what recent data shows
The Enclass 2024 survey reveals signs of improvement in well-being at middle and high schools between 2022 and 2024. This trend may be reassuring, but it masks a more nuanced reality: the mental health of adolescents has not returned to its 2018 level.
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Nearly one in five high school students is at risk of depression. In the same proportion, young people report suicidal thoughts over the past twelve months. These figures, drawn from updated national surveys, remind us that the post-Covid period has not erased the established vulnerabilities.
Girls are particularly affected. Persistent psychological suffering among adolescent girls is a point of vigilance for health professionals and educational teams. This reality justifies that prevention should not be limited to occasional campaigns but should be part of ongoing support, notably relayed by information from the Nouvelle Jeunesse website which compiles resources and news on the subject.
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Screen and social media use: a documented risk factor
The link between intensive social media use and the deterioration of young people’s mental health is the subject of converging observations. In Belgium, between 2019 and 2023, the use of antidepressants among 12-18 year-olds increased by 43.6%, with a progression correlated to the time spent on digital platforms.
The problem is not limited to the duration of exposure. The content consumed, constant social comparison, and cyberbullying are distinct mechanisms that affect children and adolescents differently.
Three mechanisms to distinguish
- Social comparison, amplified by filtered visual content, undermines self-esteem among young people in the midst of identity formation
- Cyberbullying extends school conflicts beyond the confines of the institution, with no respite possible for the victim
- Exposure to anxiety-inducing or inappropriate content, facilitated by recommendation algorithms, affects younger and younger children
Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr provides educational resources to raise awareness among young people about digital risks. Learning responsible digital usage begins in primary school, but also requires active involvement from parents in framing screen time and the applications used.
Role of parents in facing digital challenges
The alliance between schools and families remains the most direct lever for supporting children in their relationship with screens. Education professionals observe that the rules set within the home have a measurable effect on students’ digital behavior.
Several foundations and associations are intensifying their actions in favor of a reasonable use of screens. The CNP Assurances Foundation, for example, continues its commitment to the health of young people by supporting targeted awareness programs.
Setting a framework does not mean prohibiting. The most effective approaches combine defined connection times, regular dialogue about the content consumed, and parental presence during initial online experiences. Parents who themselves use the platforms frequented by their children better understand the risks their children are exposed to.
Prevention systems and training for professionals in France
The designation of mental health as a major national cause has accelerated the implementation of concrete measures. Fast-track appointments are now offered for young people identified in schools, to reduce the delay between reporting a difficulty and receiving care from a health professional.
Training teachers to recognize signs of psychological distress is becoming a structural issue. An adolescent who is academically disengaged, isolates themselves, or abruptly changes their behavior sends signals that educational teams must know how to interpret.
What changes concretely from 2026
- A strengthening of resources allocated to the Maisons des Adolescents, structures that offer medical-psychological, educational, and social support
- The deployment of training programs for national education professionals for early detection
- A strengthened collaboration between associative actors, schools, and care systems
These measures are part of a pathway logic: identification in the school environment triggers a referral to trained professionals, rather than late intervention after a crisis.
Associative engagement and information for young people
Associations play a relay role between public policies and the field. They produce content adapted to young people’s usage (short videos, social media, workshops in schools) and ensure monitoring of emerging needs.
Accessible and updated information is a full-fledged prevention tool. An adolescent who knows how to identify their own distress signals, who is aware of helplines and care locations, has a safety net that the absence of information renders invisible.
Students represent a specific at-risk population. Isolation related to geographical mobility, academic pressure, and financial precariousness create a favorable ground for anxiety and depressive disorders. Prevention systems in higher education remain under-resourced compared to the magnitude of the need.
Supporting young people in facing current challenges relies on a chain of complementary actors: families, teachers, health professionals, associations. The institutional recognition of mental health as a national priority provides a framework, but it is the daily coordination among these actors that determines the actual effectiveness of measures on the ground.