Just about anyone will tell you Europeans complain a lot. Negativity just breeds more negativity though. And with enough negativity around you, it’s easy to internalize it and become depressed. It’s true, the French do like to complain. It’s easy for all of us, regardless of nationality, to complain and find fault, but has this tendency of the French contributed to a national malaise?
A news article from earlier this year says the French are majorly depressed… a whopping 70 percent to be exact. Mais pourquoi? Why are French people so depressed?
Read on for more on this collective French depression…
Why are French people so depressed?
The French depression article that got me writing was published in April and explores the results of a survey conducted by Viavoice and communications agency W & Cie. Seven out of 10 French people believe they are depressed, which doesn’t seem all that surprising considering a 2011 poll found that the French were the world’s most pessimistic people.
Denis Gancel, president of W & Cie, says there are two separate French attitudes:
There are there the traders and business people, who are outward-looking and at home in globalization, and they are quite optimistic. Then there are the traditionalist French, who feel disillusioned and pessimistic, Gancel said.
And I get that. I really do. In my younger years, I used to be more pessimistic than I am now, a realist, if you will. But over time, I have to say that I do see the glass half full most of the time. The alternative isn’t fun. But are all pessimists depressed?
It sure makes you wonder with stats like these. Why are French people so depressed? Several reasons.
Why so sad?
- France’s famed social system is under attack, with many seeing a decline in the welfare state and education system (69 percent each), in addition to the country’s healthcare system (70 percent).
- Over half feel their economy is handicapped by exorbitant taxes (53 percent) and stifled by administrative rules and regulations (52 percent), and more than one third also feel France lacks a competitive spirit (36 percent).
Someone from the outside looking in might say the French have it too good. With a ton of vacation, state mandated health care for all and job security, is it really that bad?
To me, people seem happy enough, although one thing I notice that’s in sharp contrast to American social norms is the fact that the French aren’t overly smiley people. Mathilde in my recent Expat Chitchat hinted at this. She also commented on how Americans find everything “amazing,” which was nice to hear and different from this pervasive French “depressed” attitude. Is the complaining something that’s just part of the culture and accepted? It appears to be just on the surface but maybe it runs deeper.
So about this collective depression — is it a French thing or is it a human thing?
Are some people just better at compartmentalizing their feelings or are some cultures more OK with putting your true feelings out there? Where does the public facade start and end?
I guess being French in France isn’t so easy. It’ll test you. But so will just about everything in life including your family, your kids, your job and even that pesky neighbor. Regardless of who you are and where you live.
My advice? Make the best of what you’ve got. And if you’re having trouble doing so, talk to someone. See a doctor. Get some help. Life is too short!
Have you noticed this collective depression in France? What about where you live?
Bonjour,
Étant étudiante en biologie, je vais entrer en Bac+4 en septembre, j’aimerais vraiment devenir enseignant chercheur mais le secteur est bouché, comme beaucoup d’autres, ce que je veux dire c’est que pour les jeunes français, l’avenir nous parait sombre : Il n’y à pas de poste disponible (j’ai une amie doctorante en sociologie qui travaille à plein temps au MacDo ..),il y à une réelle pression lors des études supérieures ( dans ma promotion nous serons plus de 40 pour moins de 10 places pour le master et je ne parle même pas des concours) et la situation politique actuelle du pays n’est pas très brillante, du coup, comme beaucoup je me prépare à quitter le pays. De plus l’avenir professionnel de mes parents me tracasse beaucoup, de même que pour mes amis. Ce que je veux dire c’est que certaines personnes idéalisent la France mais la France n’est pas que Paris. Dans la vraie vie les usines ferment entrainent la mort des commerces et du village. Dans la vraie vie nous avons du mal à imaginer notre avenir et à cause de la situation actuelle les personnes préfèrent subir d’énormes quantité de stress plutôt que de quitter leur emploi (une voisine travaillant à la SNCF à fait une tentative de suicide)..
Bref je suis désolée de m’être lâchée ainsi mais ce ne sont pas que les ” traditionalist French” qui subissent une dépression mais une grande partie de la population. Cependant, a cause de notre fierté, nous ne parlons pas de nos soucis à tous le mode et nous préférons cacher tout cela.
Ceci dit, j’aime réellement ton site qui est très frais et agréable !
Bonne continuation et désolée pour le coup de geule
I am asian and have lived in both london and Paris. I find Paris far better and less gloomy than London and I find France as a country also way more beautiful, interesting and enjoyable than UK. All of the western world is depressed because they have stopped progressing and to maintain what they have achieved after so many centuries of hard work is proving to be a very difficult task. In contrast asian countries have a different system based on individual merits, low taxes and less government provided security but much higher level of a society based security where everyone looks out for each other. In France and other EU countries due to the high level of government protection, people have become very distant from each other and individualistic because they dont need each other anymore….this system is what has caused depression in these countries. But as i said, I find Uk to b faaaar more depressing than france. Take a good look anytime at people sitting in a london bus and will see their depressed repressed faces clearly. France just had a bad reputation for being depressed but it is not the most depressed nation in europe at all.
That doesn’t sound fun at all. Never lived in the UK, so I can’t comment on that, but I’ve heard others say the same thing. The part about Asian countries sounds really interesting, especially the part where everyone looks out for one another. Maybe the UK could use a little of that! Thanks for your comment!
I live in france, and travel all over europe. I work with many people from several english speaking nations from around the world. My opinion is that certainly where I live in the south west, it is hard to get a smile out of anyone. In the south the french do seem more open and outgoing. The so-called joie de vivre is not as it is perceived. This is enough to make anyone depressed. I wish the nation would snap out of it, look out for one another, and not be so self centred – driving, queuring and more neighbourly. I work regulary with asians, singapore,malaysia, philipines, such a nice friendly race. The economic problem etc etc is not the reason for unfriendlliness, impoliteness with no smile or laugh. You can go to the poorest countries and find smiley, friendly people and helpful people. I have learnt not to expect anything, and when someone is helpful its a bonus. I think if more french travelled abroad, lived and worked abroad, they would have a different outlook. But this will never be for me a country where I will ever feel at home.
Hi Sara, thanks for sharing your experience. It really is striking how certain areas of France seem depressed while like you said, even people from the poorest countries can be friendly and outgoing. I don’t know if this is nationality based or situational or just a big old coincidence, but the “depressed” attitude is not conducive to feeling at home. At all. Here’s to hoping that 2014 will change France for the better when it comes to this depressed out look! Happy New Year to you! And thanks for stopping by!
I thing your diagnosis is just a wee bit off. The cause of the depression is, OK, take India, where they historically invested intellectual capital much more in matter of the spirit. The problem in the Western liberal democracies is a spiritual sickness and malaise, that the old systems that provide group ritual and beyond the window-dressing some spiritual component to life, and people need that, they need spiritual meaning to their lives. As proof, track down the amount of money that people spend on psychic readings, online and otherwise, the amount of money is *staggering* (fifth largest sector in the American economy!!!!). That is a a symptom, so is the huge problem with drugs such as opiates that anesthetize emotions, or that malignant narcissism either covert or overt are running at 1 in 11 people, and I think that figure is conservative. This is the source of so much depression, I am convinced of it.
I find it ridiculous to judge people by “if they smile or not”. Her in America we are suppose to smile all the time and say “wow” and “amazing” and deny our feelings. Perhaps that is why someone bursts out in violence periodically and no one can figure out why. They say “he/she was always smiling” Or they were such a “happy” family, the perfect mother, etc. And where are Americans helpful anymore? Your musings sound like you have only been in France for two weeks..face it, you are not a sociologist or a deep thinker.
I think it is a spiritual problem, belief (national or personal), education, weaknesses in the culture, personality problem, social changes, ideology problem and climate etc. Life is nuanced. You can be happy go lucky when you have good health and it’s sunny outside. But if it’s raining most of the time and the sky is grey all year, and you have illness and have a wear a mask for five years – tell me why would anyone not be depressed. On the flip side if you are of certain past and personality that makes you feel nothing is ever good enough and super picky or have to have things your way – a little like me or some French people who can’t stand anything less than beautiful and perfect, you feel discontent all the time. It doesn’t matter where you are – there always seems to be lack because you in your heart desire or believe earth should be like heaven – beautiful, with lovely and disciplined people, quietness, exquisite art lining up the gardens etc. This I find to be true of many French people – they desire perfection, beauty, enough time for leisure and artistry and heart. All of these are good things. But the reality is life on earth is short and it is not meant to be primarily enjoyment, but learning, and not the learning of lifestyle and art etc – the seeking of meaning and purpose in the longer term – life beyond the earth. Man gets depressed because their body is filled, their mind is at rest and they realized they’ve got nothing more to pursue – they begin to feel desperate because in a person’s heart there is a longing for more than just the emotional, physical and mental. They feel empty because they really are empty vessels without the spiritual dimension, which yearns for eternity. France along with some of the most educated and richest countries are the rich man who has taste. But he has had his fill of good things. But there is no meaning in them other than pleasures, images, beauty and human thought. In them lie no true love, true embrace, true security and true belonging. Nor do they give the person who enjoy them true significance. These four things of the eternal longings of man. And these things are not found in cultures, or people or the economies nor even man’s highest thought. These four deepest longings are not found in the world, but out of the world – in the Son Jesus Christ who was sent to us by God the Father who made us along with His Son at the beginning. Our spiritual dimension is starving for salvation and the Truth, but many are deceived by the world’s many religions and human thought (various -isms and ideologies and myths). Feeding the body will not satisfy your soul, nor would human love. Some here say having close human community would help. It certainly will help, but the fact of the matter is many suffer in depression even with large families and close circles. No belief, education, scholar, not even your most beloved friend or spouse can fill your heart and soul they way it demands and longs to be filled. We have a God- shaped in us the moment of our inception. We seek God but we’re constantly being taught and misled to seek gods instead (money, people. fame, romantic love, pleasures, even fictional entertainment and all measures of odd activities like drug taking and religious fantacisim). No wonder we are sad and depressed. You can even be happy in the flesh and depressed if you actually stop all your activities and take a break to feel it. Europe had mostly gone from hearing the gospel of Christ, rejoicing in it and loving God – to getting deceived and falling into pride and idolatry – in some parts their faith had long become pure human religion. They think more about church activities and their deeds – than even realizing Jesus Christ is a living Person, their Master who sent them into the nations to preach the gospel of repentance and salvation through FAITH in Jesus. They forgot God and do not walk with Him as a friend and Savior anymore. They had empty rituals. It will take a true revival of mourning and true repentance for Europe to itself return to God, learn to SHARE its wealth by going into the earth to serve the lost and the weak. Yes, many Europeans did, while others looted others and instead brought and piled up wealth for themselves. When God’s servants only feed themselves they become fattened and lost. God’s help will withdraw from a country who does not seek Him to the gentiles who will listen and repent and serve Him. As Asia grow in numbers of believers, the west is weakening. There is no surprise. But the truth is that narrower is the path that leads to salvation and wider is the one that leads to destruction. Get your relationship right before God and ask Jesus to open your eyes and heart and do not be deceived by wealth and pleasure – seek God whole-heatedly, and He will give you wealth unseen in heaven and in your heart. No one who walks with Him in spirit and in truth will truly be sad. Cry out to Him in humility and open the book of Matthew and begin reading the gospel for yourself. I also recommend Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankel.
Blessings,
Tracy