More and more people are affected by burnout syndrome

More and more people are on sick leave due to a burnout syndrome

03/03/2011

According to the health insurance KKH alliance lost work due to the burnout syndrome compared to previous years increased rapidly. The strongest increase is recorded in the federal state of Saxony. Here, the illnesses due to mental illness increased by 73 percent.

In today's society, people are increasingly required to perform better. The stress in the professional life persists with many also in the private life. More and more people feel burned out, many even experience as a result of a depressive episode. According to an evaluation of patient data of the statutory health insurance „KKH-Allianz“ The number of people suffering from the so-called burnout syndrome in Saxony between 2007 and 2009 in the comparison of states increased the highest - by 73 percent. For Saxon men, an increase of almost 113 percent has even been recorded. The nationwide average increase was 46 percent.

Mainly patients of working age were mainly affected. Across Germany, the rate of absenteeism due to depression increased by 33 percent between 2006 and 2009. In Saxony insured persons of the health insurance were sick for an average of 18 days. Every eighth day of sick leave was due to mental illness.

The KKH alliance criticizes the inadequate care of the patients. So far, those affected do not receive adequate therapy, which makes them quickly operational again. It can take years for depression to be recognized by the family doctor. In about half of the cases, it took an average of five years until depression was diagnosed. In many cases, patients suffer from physical symptoms caused by mental illness. Therefore, it is often difficult for doctors to recognize the actual underlying disease in a timely manner. In most cases, it takes up to seven months after diagnosis for therapy to begin in a specialist clinic. (Sb)

Picture: Gerd Altmann