More and more lost work due to burnout

More and more lost work due to burnout

19/04/2011

More and more people suffer from fatigue syndrome burnout. According to an evaluation of the scientific institute of the AOK (WidO) already every tenth day of absence at work is due to a mental illness. Since 1999, about 80 percent more sick days have been reported due to mental disorders.

Every tenth day of absence due to the burnout syndrome
More and more employees in Germany suffer from acute fatigue symptoms and have to be on sick leave due to a burn-out. Already every tenth day of absence in the workplace was in the year 2010 on the account of acute exhaustion and depression, which is an increase of a whopping 80 percent compared to the year 1999.

For data collection, the AOK Institute evaluated the patient data of the approximately ten million AOK insured persons subject to social insurance. Overall, the sick leave was 4.8 percent. This corresponds to the level of the previous year.

„Among the 10.1 million AOK insured employees, the number of sick leave in 2010 stagnated unchanged at 4.8 percent compared with the previous year. In particular, mental illness is still on the rise. Absenteeism from mental illness has increased by almost 80 percent since 1999, leading to long downtimes: at 23.4 days per case, these last twice as long as the average of 11.6 days per case in 2010.“

The burnout syndrome as a condition of physical and mental exhaustion is under diagnosis „Problems related to difficulties in coping with life“ detected. Thus, this diagnosis belongs to the group of „Factors affecting health“. This means that burnout can not be coded by physicians as a separate mental illness, however, this diagnosis is increasingly given as additional information: Between 2004 and 2010, the 8.1 incapacity days per 1,000 AOK members have reached 72.3 days increased almost ninefold. Extrapolated to more than 34 million legally insured employees in Germany, this means: „Nearly 100,000 people with a total of more than 1.8 million days off were subsequently on sick leave in 2010 because of a burnout“, According to Schröder of the WIdO, the number of days lost due to burnout has increased almost ninefold compared to 2004 in Germany.

Especially often middle aged women are affected
Especially often middle-aged women are affected. According to the evaluation, women are twice as likely to be sick on mental illness as men (102 missing women, 50 missing men). Particularly affected are people affected in nursing and educational occupations. High rates of burn-out were observed by the Institute of Science among home educators, social workers or nursing staff. But also employees of hotlines and telephone operators obviously suffer from the high stress level and are therefore often unable to work. „The increased lifeworld challenges to specific employee groups such as women, older employees or helping professions are thus also reflected in the sick leave resulting from a burnout“, according to researcher Helmut Schröder.

Burnout diagnosis less stigmatizing today
The researchers suspect that behind the increase is the more frequent diagnosis by doctors. Today, doctors are better educated and recognize mental disorders or impairments faster than ten years ago. In addition, the diagnosis of burnout is less stigmatizing today than a few years ago, the scientists said. However, the demands in the workplace have also risen continuously. This creates more stress and work pressure. „Against the background of these new results, it is important not only to reduce the burdens in the professional environment, but also to strengthen the resources and the handling of stress in each individual“, explained Helmut Schröder, vice-director of the institute.

These results show that, in particular, certain occupational groups are affected by burnout, which should therefore also be the focus of preventive measures. The AOK Absentee Report 2011, which will be published in August, will therefore be the subject „guide“ illuminate more. (Sb)

Also read:
Constant stress puts the soul under pressure
Doctors call for improved burnout prevention
Bad working conditions burden the psyche
Burnout Syndrome: Total Exhaustion
Burn out usually affects the committed
More and more people are affected by burnout syndrome
Underuse makes you ill: The Bore-out syndrome
Valerian & L-tryptophan: approaches to sleep disorder

Picture: Gerd Altmann