Young girls are in particularly bad shape, in Quebec as often elsewhere in the world. One of the possible causes of this great generalized and gendered depression points to cell phones connected to social networks.
Alarming reports and scholarly warnings are piling up.
The magazine The Economist has just analyzed the data on suicides and hospitalizations following suicide attempts from 17 countries, i.e. 12 European countries, then Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan and Mexico.
First observation. Even though men and boys commit suicide more, the suicide rate generally drops for all male age groups while it increases dramatically for young women and adolescent girls. The increase has been particularly significant for young people aged 10 to 19 over the past decade.
Second conclusion. The number of adolescent girls hospitalized after self-harm has jumped in 11 countries since 2010, by an average of 143%.
In New Zealand, the upward trend reaches almost 400% between 2011 and 2021. The average increase for boys of the same age (10-14 years) is 49%.
Canada is not part of the batch studied in this study. Never mind, very recent data on young Quebecers between the ages of 12 and 25 paint an equally dark picture, particularly for teenage girls and young women.
I’Survey on the psychological health of 12-25 year olds broadcast in March puts all the indicators in red.
Two-thirds of girls and students in high schools, CEGEPs and universities thought they would be better off dead or thought about hurting themselves in the last two weeks before the survey, in January 2023. One in three boys provided the same answers in high school and one in four students in college or university.
The highest rate of emergency room visits for suicide attempts or suicidal thoughts is found among the female group aged 15 to 19 for the period 2014-2022. The situation has worsened during the pandemic.
Almost 40% of girls (but 11% of boys) report moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and 45% (and 18% of them) moderate to severe symptoms of depression.
Consumption of antidepressants has increased among young people aged 12 to 14 over the past five years, and even more since 2021. Again, girls seem to be more affected than boys, and their consumption of these drugs has increased by 84% between 2018 and 2022 compared to 36% for boys.
“For several years, it has been our young girls who have been getting worse and worse,” summarizes Professor Mélissa Généreux of the University of Sherbrooke, medical advisor to the Public Health Department of Estrie and responsible for the study. Quebec on the psychological health of young people. “Everything points to discomfort, to a certain psychological suffering, to distress in the broad sense, and particularly among our young girls. »
The DD Généreux adds that she consulted all the data available and recalls that her work puts her in constant contact with the field. “The indicators say that our young people have never been in such bad shape in general,” she says. All circles say it and repeat it: we are concerned about our young people, and especially our young girls. For me, we must stop the debate: everything points to this observation. »
screen
The responsibility of social networks in this gendered and generational misfortune remains difficult to establish clearly. The Economist did not, for example, find a direct link between the increase in subscriptions to digital social platforms and suicide attempts, neither for a gender nor for a particular age group.
At the same time, in England or the United States, the mental situation of young girls has deteriorated with the arrival of online networking platforms, first Instagram (October 2010), then TikTok (2016).
Not finding a link does not prove that there is none. The correlation of distress and online life seems all the more possible since young girls, who are considered to be more depressed, spend more time on the networks than boys.
In 2023, 36% of Quebec teenagers spent at least four hours a day during the weekend on social networks, compared to 20% for boys. During the week, the levels drop to 26% and 15% respectively. On the other hand, half of adolescents and young men (50%) aged 12 to 25 become gamers at least four hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. To each his own screen, with different consequences.
” THE gaming has long been identified as an issue and a challenge, notes the DD Generous. I’m not saying we shouldn’t worry about it. The games have addictive potential and they can cut players off from in-person contact. Social networks have impacts not only by the time spent online, but also by the content disseminated. The quantity and quality of content can cause concern. »
Screen the screens
Mélissa Généreux lives with five children aged 7 to 18. She remembers that two decades ago the recommendations sought to dissuade young people from watching TV. The CRT was described as bad, period. Recent studies establish that the good old TV can be used to socialize, to discuss content with the family. Only, the children look at it very little.
The time spent on the networks counts differently. In her study, Professor Généreux asked young people to describe the effects of these platforms in their lives: both girls and boys cited contact with their friends as a positive effect.
On the other hand, they named negative effects on their sleep, on their educational success, on their psychological health and on their family environment. Young girls added the negative effect on the perception of their appearance. “The young people themselves therefore understand very well what is happening”, sums up the public health specialist.
The DD Généreux is campaigning for action at different levels to inform people about the trap of algorithms, for example, or about the use of tools to reduce their time online. “It’s not about panicking or demonizing it,” she said. First, young people are not the only ones to have a digital addiction. When I go to a restaurant, I see lots of couples who don’t talk to each other and who are on their cell phones. They are not 15 years old. Then adults pushed young people to screens even more during the pandemic. »
Finally, she notes that the digital giants encourage addiction. “We must ask ourselves collectively and politically if we should let them continue, in the same way [qu’on l’a fait pour] tobacco companies, says the public health specialist. We are interested in the age when minors should start working. I think we should ask ourselves if we are regulating technology companies well in the face of a potentially gigantic and rapidly growing problem. »
Need help ?
If you are thinking about suicide or worried about a loved one, workers are available at all times at 1 866 APPELLE (1 866 277-3553), by text message (535353) or by chatting at suicide.ca.