Abstract
By March 2020, the mental health of the French population had deteriorated overall as a result of the health crisis. With regard to suicide, two major phenomena can be distinguished, with different effects depending on the age and sex of the individuals concerned. The first concerns the drop in suicide deaths and in the number of people seeking care for self-inflicted injuries in the general population during the two confinements of 2020. The second phenomenon dates from the second half of 2020, and is characterized by a very marked rise in suicidal gestures among teenage girls and young women. This phenomenon persisted until at least the first half of 2022, and calls for vigilance in this sub-population.
Research and the recommendations of the French National Authority for Health (HAS) converge in recommending comprehensive prevention of suicide among young people, based on a network of players between whom links must be established to enable risks to be spotted and care to be coordinated.
Focusing on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on suicide, this fifth report from the Observatoire National du Suicide (French National Suicide Observatory) comprises two thematic dossiers and 18 fact sheets.