[https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/367361/an-urgent-issue-one-in-three-young-belgians-suffer-from-depression](https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/367361/an-urgent-issue-one-in-three-young-belgians-suffer-from-depression)
**A new survey has revealed harrowing new details about the severe mental health crisis currently afflicting Belgium’s youth.**
**According to a study conducted by Sciensano Public Health Institute and reported on by** [**Le Soir**](https://www.lesoir.be/494031/article/2023-02-09/un-jeune-sur-trois-souffre-danxiete-ou-de-depression)**, roughly one in three (29%) Belgians under the age of 30 are depressed — almost double the average rate for Belgium as a whole (17%).**
**The survey also found that those living alone are significantly more susceptible to depression than those living a partner (27% vs 12%), and that people with a high school diploma (19%) are more likely to be depressed than those with higher levels of education (12%).**
**Unemployment, too, was found to be a significant factor: 34% of jobless Belgians are depressed, compared to 15% of those with a job. Belgians suffering from disabilities were also found to be particularly prone to depression (36%).**
32 comments
‘Self-reported’ depression does not equal clinical depression. There is definitely a worrying trend in mental health and wellbeing amongst belgians but feeling depressed and having depression are not the same thing.
Nice, I’m part of a statistic. AMA
‘Young people are a bunch of whiny spoiled brats, we had to work for everything!’
– probably a boomer
Are they depressed because of unemployment or are they unemployed because of depression?
I feel like unemployment is most likely a consequence of depression and will therefor be correlated.
You could probably also find the #of showers / week to be a significant factor in depression.
IMO, one of the worst signs in young people is the trend to have less resilience, and this could have a link with bad use of social media/screens and reduction of “off line” interaction.
I think bad or excessive use of mobiles/tablets is not helping children to be more resistant to some life’s issues, on the contrary, the “quick” solutions of some new technologies or social media (that bring so many advances) sometimes have the downfall of not enforcing our skills to be patient or calm.
Unemployment is has not really risen significantly in the past 5Y, it has actually dropped a bit (from 6 – 6.5% to 5.5%).
Sources:
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/528992/employment-rate-in-belgium-by-age](https://www.statista.com/statistics/528992/employment-rate-in-belgium-by-age)
[https://tradingeconomics.com/belgium/unemployment-rate](https://tradingeconomics.com/belgium/unemployment-rate)
In the lower age groups unemployment is absolutely higher. Though the unemployment rates in this age-group have gone up a bit, it does not seem to be correlated to the big jump (practically doubled) in depression rates?
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/1114574/depressive-disorder-prevalence-belgium](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1114574/depressive-disorder-prevalence-belgium/)
But we don’t need proper compensation for psychological healthcare, oh not at all. That’s just a luxury, isn’t it?
And for people who really need it, oh they can wait for months or a year for a spot in a GGZ facility just fine, right? It’s not like these things are urgent or hamper your ability to function or anything, nahhh.
Christ psych healthcare is a disgrace here… Once you’ve managed to get help it tries its hardest but getting there is stupidly tough for many people.
I can’t find the actual Sciensano numbers. Anyone have a link?
When you’re 30+, people don’t care anymore.
There’s a simple cure to depression
Stop being depressed
​
Source : Not me
Let’s go
Is anyone really suprised?
The future is very bleak and you have very little control over it. Most of the money (if not all) goes to taxes or simply surviving. And im just naming a few issues.
Damn thats less than i thought
That’s quite horrible. Neglecting youth will have grave results for the future. Has there been any previous large scale depressions like this?
Yaay, I’m not lonely
15% of working ppl r depressed? I think all blue collars are after 5-10y of career…
In other news, I just learned that autistic and ADHD people have a life expectancy of around 36 years. Almost there! 🙌🙌
I’m depressed and don’t meet the criteria.
I’m married. Have a job etc
Why am I sad? Who knows… maybe it’s my ptsd. I have been treaded and can do everything what I first couldn’t do. I have everything what I could only dream about when younger but still I’m not happy and have loneliness and hole inside me that eating me alive.
I don’t go to therapy anymore because it’s way to expensive and didn’t really help me anymore. So nothing to do about it I guess
Start hitting the gym brothas
Greatest medicine to to this
Existence is depressing.
Gotta get rid of it all.
Yeah no wonder, rent is fucken half my income, the rest is tax. I gotta survive on ramen and cheap food cuz I can’t afford anything else and I cannot save a fucken cent. Either I gotta go back to living with my mum, which means getting the train at 7am every day, or I gotta get a second job and get a burn-out
“Mental health crisis” should read “late stage capitalism”.
For everyone saying it’s expensive ->
depends where you go, for me waiting time was 6 weeks, first consultation free, (payed by government not health fund like helan or cm, next 8 sessions only 11 euro’s, rest is payed by government. Only applies with a clinical psychologist or remedial educationalist (orthopedagoog).
So 9, 1hour sessions for 88 euro’s, decent imo.
https://www.riziv.fgov.be/nl/themas/kost-terugbetaling/door-ziekenfonds/geestelijke-gezondheidszorg/Paginas/eerstelijns-gespecialiseerde-psychologische-zorg-netwerk-geestelijke-gezondheidszorg.aspx
Is anyone surprised by this? Belgians, be it the Flemish or the Walloons, have a very specific mindset in how they treat their fellow classmate, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc… they way most Belgians act towards each other is a big factor in the high depression and suicide rates for this tiny country.
I try to be the change I want to see in this country, but I admit it is very hard. Belgian society is just very bitter, closed, non tolerant, close minded, performance oriented, selfish and individualistic.
Maybe raise taxes on everything so young people have less to look forward to and build in their life could help?
“People who *** are at risk of depression.”
What if I told you: “People with depression are at risk of ***”
It reminds me of that incredible disrespectful interview with Frank Vandenbroucke and Dr Sofie Lemmens. She was putting the finger on the wound and both Frank and Gert were mocking her.
The government does not care, never have.
Im no therapist, but im becoming little by little into holistic coaching, ill be glad to have group meetings for support, give some guidance before the real help comes (psychiatrist or psychologist) anyone interested? it would happen in brussels
I believe that this is just a result of society like it is these days. A lot of people don’t have many positive views towards the future, this because of a lot of reasons (climate change, economy, …) Sure there have been rough times before, but I feel like nowadays there is a lot more pressure on young people to do certain things. Yeah people get depressed because of a bad environment and other personal issues too, but the pressure and uncertainty can’t be helping.
The youth is also always represented in media as reckless, lacking respect, being useless and whatnot. “De jeugd van tegenwoordig” mentality has existed for a long time I know, but nowadays the media is just rubbing everything in your face, not only the bad view towards young people, but also the constant flow of bad news and expectations are constantly on social media. People may not be actively thinking about all the bad news they see on the internet but all this negativity surely has an impact.
People are so weak nowadays, what type of depression ?!!! Go to the war in Ukraine or feed the children in Syria or Africa, you will learn what is true suffering. Just shut the hell up and stop being a pussy with your confort ++ ikea
The fall of the West is real, mediocrity everywhere, no more purpose.
I think it’s more than that. Pessimistic world and future views with economic struggles working too much for too little money does that do a person.
Being a economic slave is still slavery.
Better to refer to the right original page than a limited pay-page. Just google it to English and that’s it:[https://www.sciensano.be/fr/coin-presse/la-sante-mentale-apres-la-crise-du-covid-19-premieres-conclusions-de-letude-belhealth](https://www.sciensano.be/fr/coin-presse/la-sante-mentale-apres-la-crise-du-covid-19-premieres-conclusions-de-letude-belhealth)
or
https://www.sciensano.be/nl/pershoek/de-geestelijke-gezondheid-na-corona-eerste-conclusies-van-de-belhealth-studie