While mental health was erected in great national cause in 2025, the National Academy of Medicine Alert on strictly medical issues not to be overlooked. Faced with the magnitude of psychiatric disorders, she calls to refocus public actions on prevention, care and the fight against stigmatization.
Welcome, but insufficient recognition
The government’s choice to make mental health the great national cause in 2025 reflects an expected awareness. This vast and transversal theme encompasses both well-being, prevention and support. However, the National Academy of Medicine recalls that this global vision should not obscure medical reality: psychiatric diseases are today the leading cause of disability in France and a considerable economic burden, representing 14 % of health insurance spending.
Psychiatric emergencies on the verge of rupture
Recent reports on psychiatric emergency services draw up an alarming observation: endless queues, lack of available beds, patients in crisis left without adequate care … The system is saturated, to the point of placing major ethical dilems. The Academy insists on the urgency of strengthening these structures, particularly for the most serious cases: desocialized patients, suffering from comorbidities or addiction.
Prevent, treat, destigmatize
To respond to this crisis, several levers have priority. Prevention, first, in school environment and from childhood, in order to detect the disorders early. The recognition of validated treatments, then, whether they are psychotherapeutic, drug or from new technologies (brain stimulation). And finally, an essential work of pedagogy with the public: better name the diseases to avoid disguised insults, explain to families that anorexia, self -control or suicidal ideas in adolescents are pathologies to treat, not taboos to hide.
Mental health cannot be summed up in a quest for well-being. The Academy of Medicine calls for a national, medical and ethical start, so that the patients are finally treated with the means, the recognition and the respect they deserve.