One third of the early retirement mentally

Mental illness in northeastern Germany is often the cause of early retirement

28.12.2012

Mental illnesses are often the cause of occupational disability and early retirement. In the northeast of Germany is according to the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) meanwhile „more than every third early retirement mentally.“ Between 2009 and 2011, there had been an increase in early retirement due to mental illness of 15 percent.

In 2011, about 2,300 men and women in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were on early retirement due to mental health problems, according to the announcement of the Techniker Krankenkassen on Thursday in Schwerin. The victims had to deal with such severe mental disorders that their professional capacity was no longer guaranteed and an early retirement was required. The causes of the significant increase in occupational disability as a result of mental health problems is only hinted at by the Techniker Krankenkasse in the current press release. „Time pressure, constant accessibility and the fear for the job are not without a trace on many people“, explained Wiebke Arps, Consultant for Occupational Health Management at the Techniker Krankenkasse in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Recognize mental stress in the workplace
Around 1,200 women and 1,100 men left their jobs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2011 due to mental health problems. The victims had an average age of 48 years. In total, around 6,200 people in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had to retire prematurely due to illness last year. In view of the increase in disability due to mental health problems, it is for the companies „important to recognize stress in the working environment in good time and to counteract the health consequences such as burnout or addiction“, reports the TC. The TK consultant for workplace health management, according to, should also „Executives should not taboo on mental illness and speak with their staff when there is evidence of abuse.“ In this way „work-related causes can be identified and solutions can be found ", the spokesperson of the Techniker Krankenkasse continues.

Occupational health management is often neglected
Up to now, according to the TC expert, too little attention has been paid to occupational health management. A study of the health and work initiative has shown that „Two-thirds of German companies with up to 200 employees and half of companies with up to 500 employees do not care about the health of their employees in the workplace“ Take care, reports the health insurance in their latest release. Nine out of ten companies gave priority to day-to-day business as a reason for the lack of health care. However, this seems to be an extremely short-sighted approach, because employees fall out due to illness in the longer term, also suffers the daily business considerably. Occupational health management should therefore urgently be given more consideration, whereby the orientation can also be based on the specific health risk in the individual companies. The technician health insurance offers according to own data for over ten years consultations to the operational health management and has so far „in 840 companies in Germany, the management and employees in occupational health management“ trained. (Fp)

Picture: Gerd Altmann