Access to care and the treatment of people suffering from depressive disorders represent a major public health issue. However, there are virtually no French national data on this issue for the general population. Data from the “Mental Health in the General Population” survey (CCOMS-DREES, 2004), conducted in France among 36,105 people aged 18 and older, allow us to make an initial assessment of this particularly concerning phenomenon. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on variables associated with depressive disorders and treatment. As expected, access to care and the treatments received by people with depression prove to be highly problematic; 47.1% of people with depression report having been treated for depression, and approximately 20% of those with recurrent or chronic depressive disorders state that they have never received treatment. Only 53.3% of people with mild or moderate major depressive disorder (MDD) have ever received treatment; 3.2% have undergone psychotherapy without medication; 25.6% of those who have received pharmacological treatment report having taken antidepressants; 24% of people with recurrent or chronic depressive disorders have never received treatment, and nearly three-quarters do not receive even minimal adequate treatment.[author’s abstract]