Does studying make me mentally ill?

Significant increase in mental health problems among students

01/07/2011

Students are increasingly suffering from mental health problems, according to one of the results of the health report 2011 presented by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) on Thursday. The chairman of the board of TK, Prof. dr. Norbert Klusen explained the results of the health report „suggests that the recent reforms in academic education are not without a trace of the young“.

When analyzing the medical data of its roughly 3.5 million members who are subject to social security contributions and registered as unemployed, Techniker Krankenkasse has not only seen a significant increase in student incomes „Civilization diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and metabolic disorders“ but also recorded a worrying increase in mental stress. The students would be increasingly under stress and develop correspondingly more frequent mental disorders, which also the prescription of the drugs has increased significantly, the result of the Health Report 2011.

Prescription of medicines increased significantly overall
Overall, the prescription of drugs among students has risen massively since 2006, reports the Techniker health insurance in the Health Report 2011. This year's health report is particularly concerned with the health of young workers and students, said the TK chief, Prof. Dr. med. Klusen on presentation of the report. As part of the health report, the drug prescriptions, the days off work and data from outpatient medical care were used to determine the health status of the TK insured. The TK experts then compared the results of the young working population with those of the students, comparing, inter alia, the prescription rates of systemic hormone preparations, dermatics, systemic anti-infective agents or the drugs used to treat the musculoskeletal system. The prescriptions of drugs for the treatment of the nervous system were examined more closely in the health report. The TK experts noted that while the regulations for students have risen significantly (by just under 25 percent between 2006 and 2010), overall fewer medicines are still being prescribed than among the workforce of the same age.

Increase in regulations for the treatment of the nervous system
While the prescription rates of students with systemic hormone preparations, dermatics, anti-infectives, etc. are still well below the prescription rate of employees of the same age, the prescriptions of the preparations for the treatment of the nervous system are a worrying exception, according to the TK. Here, the prescription rates of the students are significantly higher than among the same age working people. „In the four years since our last evaluation, this is the prescribed volume“ for the treatment of the nervous system „up an alarming 54 percent“, emphasized the CEO of the TK at the presentation of the Health Report 2011. Over 20 percent of student-prescribed drugs are used to treat the nervous system, so the statement health reports. In particular, the migraines, antiepileptics, analgesics (analgesics) and antidepressants, a massive increase in the regulations recorded. Overall, meanwhile, get „five percent of female students and three percent of male high school students medication for depression“, Prof. Dr. Norbert Klusen. The Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Systems Research (ISEG) in Hanover has also commented on the current results of the Health Report 2011 and has especially highlighted the massive increase in prescriptions for antidepressants as worrying. The ISEG health researcher Thomas Grobe explained that the use of antidepressants is increasing enormously, especially among students over the age of 25 years. Today, more than 40 percent more students are treated with antidepressants than four years ago, Grobe continues.

Increase in mental illness through the reform of academic education?
Although the TK chairman stressed that there was a presumption that the increase in mental illness could be linked to the recent reform of academic education, Klusen did not produce a direct causal link between study conditions and student health. However, the psychologist Heiko Schulz, who works for the Techniker Krankenkasse, took this one step further and, in view of the results of the Health Report 2011, explained that the so-called Bologna process, which is used to introduce the Bachelor's degree programs throughout Europe, makes him sick. Students should therefore adopt methods of stress management and relaxation exercises, the psychologist recommended. The students should also learn to deal with their exam fears, Schulz continued.

Individually different processing of the burdens of the study system
However, the Studentenwerke did not want to confirm a link between the burdens of studying and the marked increase in psychic treatment among students. Although the German Studentenwerk reported constant high demand for psychological counseling in the counseling centers of the universities, the general secretary of the student union, Achim Meyer on the Heyde, explained that not only the restructuring of the academic education could be held responsible for this. Even though many bachelor's degree programs are materially overloaded and the examination density or performance pressure is too high from the outset because every exam grade is included in the exam grade, the study conditions can not be used solely to explain the growing mental health problems of the students, Meyer emphasized the heyde. According to the Secretary General of the Studentenwerk, social expectations play at least as important a role. Even if the expectations are hardly unsatisfiable, the students put themselves under pressure, Meyer explained on the Heyde. According to the expert, the students react extremely differently to the processing of the burdens of the study system.

Performance requirements during studies have risen enormously
According to the secretary general of the Studentenwerk, the fact that students today are much more likely to seek appropriate counseling for mental health problems is also attributable to the generally increased willingness to use psychological counseling. This does not necessarily have something to do with the burden of changing the courses. „The Bachelor does not make you sick“, stressed Meyer on the Heyde. Nevertheless, according to the data of the German Student Union, more students annually contact one of the 42 counseling centers, and around 23,000 students then receive psychological counseling, explained the Secretary General of the German Student Union. Here are learning and work disturbances, performance problems, work organization, time management and test anxiety, the most common reason for visiting the counseling centers. The TK CEO Prof. dr. Klusen referred in this connection to the fact that the benefit claims on the students have increased significantly in recent years. The students should complete their studies in record time, at the same time complete one or more stays abroad and gain practical experience. „Those who manage to cultivate relationships beyond Facebook, start a family, and write their own dissertation deserve our utmost respect“, emphasized Norbert Klusen. The rest need support, so the conclusion of the TK chief. (Fp)

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