Zone Psy ConsultationPsychoanalytic organisation
Half of French employees. That is the share of people showing signs of psychological distress, according to the barometer carried out by Ipsos-BVA for Empreinte Humaine and published on 2 June 2026. A record since the survey began in March 2020: the November 2025 wave was three points lower. Among these employees, 16% report high distress.
The study defines distress as a combination of depressive symptoms and exhaustion. Its president, work psychologist Christophe Nguyen, describes it as « a somewhat continuous feeling of despair, fatigue, in the end of being fed up and stressed ».
Who is most affected?
Women (55%), clerical employees (59%) and under-30s (60%). Above all, 83% of employees link their condition to their work, and 87% of under-30s. So this is not an outside malaise spilling into the office: work itself is named.
83% of employees in distress link their condition to their work.
Overload, recognition, climate
The survey points first to overload: half of employees feel they do not have time to do their work properly, and accelerating pace goes with the recent rise in distress. It points next to lack of recognition: 84% want to be recognised by management, but only 49% feel they are. Finally, only 11% of employees work in a climate of high psychological safety, where you can say you are not well without fearing the cost.
The outlook is bleak: 45% fear they will not hold up psychologically until retirement, and nearly a third want to leave their organisation.
Signs not to dismiss
Fatigue that won't lift, broken sleep, irritability, a knot in the stomach on Sunday evening, difficulty concentrating, withdrawal, loss of pleasure: taken alone, each seems ordinary. Together, and over time, they say something. INRS describes stress as an imbalance between perceived demands and perceived resources: it is neither a character flaw nor a weakness, but a relationship between a situation and a person.
What to do now
- Talk about it, to a loved one, a trusted colleague, a professional: speaking undoes what silence maintains.
- See your family doctor if signs last more than a few weeks.
- Contact the occupational physician, bound by medical confidentiality, who can act on your workstation.
- Get psychological support to understand what weighs on you and decide what comes next.
- Do not wait for collapse: you have the right to be helped before being « bad enough ».
The Journal devotes a special report to this subject: burn-out, psychological and sexual harassment, stress management, returning to work. Each article offers guideposts and tells you whom to turn to.
Sources
This article is for information only. It replaces neither a consultation nor a diagnosis, which is a doctor's role.
