In Poland, vasectomy is emerging as a more popular method of permanent contraception among men, while female tubal ligation remains illegal on request. The trend comes amid growing concern over the country’s declining fertility rates and shifting attitudes toward family planning.

The State of the Young 2025 report found that 15 percent of adults born between 1995 and 2006 have no children and do not intend to have any. While permanent contraception options for men are increasingly sought, women in Poland have no equivalent choice: tubal ligation is prohibited except for strict medical reasons, and performing it on request can carry prison sentences of three to 20 years under Article 156-1 of the Penal Code.

Statistics on vasectomy in Poland are limited, as most procedures are carried out privately. It is estimated that around 5,000 vasectomies take place annually, with clinics advertising the services online and on roadside billboards. Mateusz Siwik, owner of a Warsaw clinic, told Euronews Health that interest in the procedure has been steadily growing, with year-on-year increases of around 15 percent. He said patients are socially diverse but often men in stable relationships with two or more children who have consciously decided to end family expansion.

One example is Kamil Pawelski, a psychologist and influencer who underwent vasectomy in 2020 after the birth of his second child. Pawelski said the decision was motivated by concern for his wife’s health and their mutual decision not to have more children. He noted that public reactions were mixed, with more criticism coming from men than women. “I think this is a very masculine decision,” he said, stressing that the procedure is only suitable for those certain about not having future children.

The restriction on female sterilisation has contributed to medical tourism, with Poles travelling to Germany, Czechia, and Slovakia for tubal ligation. Rafał Zadykowicz, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist, said foreign gynaecologists are often surprised by the strict legal limits in Poland, where access is limited to medical necessity.

Vasectomy is increasingly preferred across Europe and North America due to its relative simplicity and low invasiveness. France has seen vasectomies rise from 1,940 in 2010 to over 30,000 in 2022, especially among men under 40. In Canada, 22 percent of women rely on their partner’s vasectomy, while rates in the UK, New Zealand, and South Korea range from 17 to 21 percent. In contrast, Italy sees only around 1 percent of men undergoing the procedure. No official figures exist for Poland, but interest is clearly rising.

Poland faces some of the lowest fertility rates globally. The total fertility rate fell to an estimated 1.10 children per woman in 2025, leaving the population at 37.3 million. Within the OECD, Poland ranks third from last, ahead of only Chile and South Korea. Social policy programmes offering financial support for children have been in place since 2016, but debates continue over why many young adults choose not to have children despite the incentives.

Young adults across the world are struggling with worsening mental health and daily life challenges, with the sharpest declines seen in wealthier nations, according to a new report by Sapien Labs.

The United States-based non-profit assessed mental well-being through its Mind Health Quotient (MHQ), a measure of emotional, social, cognitive and physical capacities needed to function effectively in life, work and relationships. The findings are based on online surveys conducted across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

The study shows a clear generational divide. Adults aged 55 and older have maintained an average MHQ score of around 100 since measurements began in 2019, reflecting what researchers consider a normal population range. By contrast, young adults aged 18 to 34 recorded an average score of just 36. Around 41 per cent of respondents in that age group reported significant mental health challenges.

Tara Thiagarajan, founder and chief scientist of Sapien Labs and lead author of the report, said the crisis extends beyond rising diagnoses of depression and anxiety. She described it as a progressive generational decline that worsened sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not reversed.

Young people in Europe ranked poorly compared with peers on other continents. Several European countries were among the lowest performers in the survey of 84 nations. Italy was the highest-ranked European country at 20th place. Finland ranked 40th, while Portugal and Spain were joint 46th. Belgium stood at 52 and France at 58. Near the bottom were Ireland at 70, Germany at 71 and the United Kingdom at 81.

In contrast, young people in sub-Saharan Africa recorded stronger outcomes despite living in the region with the lowest per capita income globally. Researchers said the decline among younger generations appears most severe in developed economies, even though spending on mental health services has increased.

The report identified four main drivers of poor mental health among young adults: weak family bonds, low levels of spirituality, early smartphone access and high consumption of ultra-processed foods. Respondents who reported poor family relationships were nearly four times more likely to fall into distressed categories. Those who described themselves as spiritual or connected to a higher power tended to perform better on the MHQ scale.

Early smartphone use was also linked to poorer outcomes later in life. Among Generation Z, the average age of receiving a first smartphone was 14, with European averages between 12 and 13 years.

The study also linked rising consumption of ultra-processed foods over the past 15 years to between 15 and 30 per cent of the overall mental health burden.

Researchers concluded that addressing environmental and social factors shaping young lives may be as important as expanding treatment services.

New research suggests that playing the video game Tetris can help reduce intrusive memories of trauma, with symptoms significantly decreasing within weeks and many participants remaining symptom-free after six months. The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, tested a treatment called Imagery Competing Task Intervention (ICTI), which targets vivid, unwanted memories that are a core feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The treatment was developed at Uppsala University in Sweden in collaboration with research organisation P1vital and trialled with the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. It focuses on psychological trauma such as witnessing sudden death or experiencing violent events, which can lead to involuntary flashbacks that disrupt daily life.

“Even a single, fleeting intrusive memory of past trauma can exert a powerful impact by hijacking attention and leaving people at the mercy of unwanted emotions,” said Emily Holmes, professor of psychology at Uppsala University and lead author of the study. She explained that ICTI works by weakening the intrusive aspect of sensory memories through a brief visual intervention, reducing the frequency and intensity of trauma flashbacks.

The trial involved healthcare workers who had experienced traumatic events during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were divided into three groups: one underwent the ICTI mental intervention, another listened to classical music, and the third received standard care.

Results showed a substantial reduction in intrusive memories among participants using ICTI, from an average of 14 per week to just one per week after four weeks—ten times fewer than the other groups. Six months later, 70 percent of the ICTI group reported being completely free of intrusive memories.

Holmes described the intervention as “gentle, brief, and practical,” designed to fit into participants’ busy lives. The treatment centres on Tetris, a game requiring players to rotate falling shapes to fit them into a grid. Participants first recalled a traumatic memory briefly, then applied mental rotation—a cognitive skill—to play Tetris for about 20 minutes per session. Occupying the brain’s visuospatial areas competes with the visual flashbacks, reducing their vividness, emotional impact, and frequency.

Beyond reducing intrusive images, the study found broader benefits for PTSD symptoms. Participants reported improvements in anxiety, depression, and overall functioning by the fourth week, regardless of initial PTSD severity. The researchers suggest that by addressing intrusive memories directly, other aspects of trauma-related distress can also be alleviated.

The findings indicate that a short, practical, and non-verbal intervention like Tetris-based ICTI could become an accessible tool for people struggling with trauma, offering hope for reducing flashbacks and improving daily life without lengthy therapy or medication.