Children and young adults are not immune to psychiatric distress. Care for illnesses related to toxicology, poisoning, and alcohol has also exceeded predictions by 25%, according to a study by the French Federation of Health and Human Services (FHF). These figures had been largely underestimated. Child psychiatric stays recorded in public hospitals in France during 2025 are much higher than expected. The French Hospital Federation  (FHF) has conducted a study that demonstrates, once again, the worrying deterioration in the mental health of children and young adults and warns of the difficulties in accessing care in the psychiatric field.
Consulted by Le Figaro, the data reveal that the consumption of medical care in public hospitals was higher than expected, particularly for psychiatric pathologies and poisonings (including voluntary) for French people aged 5 to 19. Thus, in 2025, stays of children and young adults in psychiatric services exceeded the forecasts made for that year by 32%. Those related to toxicology, poisoning, a nd alcohol exceeded them by 25%.
Problem of access to care
Arnaud Robinet, president of the FHF and mayor of Reims, says it is not possible to explain with certainty why this recourse to mental health care in hhospitalsis is increasing among young people. “The impact of successive lockdowns and curfew periods have probably played a role in the deterioration of the mental health of young people,” suggests the mayor and doctor, referring to a period “very significant for many children and adolescents .” He also speculates that barriers to screening and difficulties in accessing care upstream could ultimately increase the use of hospitals.
Figures released by the FHF following a survey conducted in February 2025 with Ipsos show that many French people (of all ages) requiring care for mental health problems have struggled: 47% report excessively long waiting times, 41% highlight the impossibility of obtaining an appointment, and 36% denounce interruptions in their care.
This increase in psychiatric distress among children and young adults, as among the rest of the population, is all the more worrying because the resources allocated to care are, according to the president of the FHF, insufficient. “Psychiatry has been the poor relation of the health system for years,” laments Arnaud Robinet. Describing “saturated” services and public medical-psychological centers (CMP) in “great difficulty,” he maintains that “the dramatic situation in psychiatry requires a sustained effort over ten years ” othing can be done without adequate resources given to public establishments and an overhaul of the care offered on the ground, with specific support for medical-psychological centers, which must become the basis of care.
