Mental suffering is the most common reason for early retirement

Mental illness is the most common reason for disability pension

30/12/2012

Mental illnesses increasingly lead to occupational disability and early retirement. An evaluation of the German pension insurance (DRV) has shown that mental illnesses are now the most common reason for early retirement from working life. In recent days, several state representatives of the Techniker Krankenkassen (TK) with reference to the survey of the DRV reported that in some states, such as Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Bavaria or Rhineland-Palatinate, now almost half of the early retirement by mental illness conditional.

In the last ten years, early retirement due to mental illness has increased dramatically, with their share of early retirement increased by 15 percentage points between 2000 and 2010. With reference to the numbers of the German pension insurance, the TK reported that, for example, in Hamburg in the past year "in the women 57.7 percent and in the men 42.2 percent of all early retirement mental health" were. The average age of those affected was 52 years. Although the figures in other federal states, such as Saxony-Anhalt or Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, were significantly better, here too almost one third of the approved disability pensions went back to a mental illness.

Mental illness due to stress at work?
In Germany, the average share of mental retire- ment in the total disability pension was 41 percent in 2011, reports "Welt Online" with reference to the figures of the German Pension Insurance. Depression, anxiety disorders and other emotional ailments are therefore the most common reason for premature departure from work - clearly ahead of diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular diseases (eg coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis). More than four in ten early retirees are mentally ill. The experts of the Techniker Krankenkasse describe the high burdens in the working environment as possible causes. "Deadline pressure, constant accessibility and fear for the workplace are not without a trace on many people", explained the consultant for workplace health management at the TK in Lower Saxony. Annelie Buntenbach, board member of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in conversation with the "Welt am Sonntag".

Many workers are stressed by the working conditions
The DGB warns of the burdens in the workplace, which are a reason for the rising early retirement. "The psychological stress caused by incitement and stress in the workplace are now so high that they endanger the health and performance of employees," said Annelie Buntenbach. For example, the annual DGB survey in March revealed that around 20 percent of employees in Germany work at least ten hours overtime per week to cope with the workload. More than a quarter of employees must also be available in their free time, which means that 52 percent of employees feel massively stressed, according to the results of the DGB survey. According to the Techniker Krankenkasse, it is therefore "important for companies to detect stress in the working environment in good time and to counteract the health consequences such as burnout or addiction." Managers should not taboo the topic of mental illness and discuss the individual psychosocial burden on their employees Workplace, explained the health insurance. "The willingness of a company to invest in the health of its employees will become increasingly important in the coming years," emphasized Sabine Voermans, the head of the TK regional agency in Lower Saxony, in view of the predicted shortage of skilled workers in the course of demographic change.

Politics calls for measures to reduce mental stress in the work environment
The health policy spokesman of the SPD parliamentary group, Karl Lauterbach, explained to the "Welt am Sonntag" that the workload does not allow many employees to combine work and family. "This explains why women are far more likely to become incapacitated for mental health reasons than men," continues Lauterbach. Overall, 48 of women's early retirement rates were due to mental health problems, while the share of men was only 32 percent. Federal Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) also recognizes a worrying trend here. In the future, workers should be better protected against extreme mental stress, according to von der Leyen, compared to Welt am Sonntag. By the end of January, an initiative for better mental health protection should be launched. "Now we work hand in hand with employers, trade unions and accident insurance companies, which programs and concepts and concrete rules can effectively protect workforces against mental stress," said the Federal Minister of Labor in an interview with the newspaper. The massive increase in early retirement as a result of mental illnesses from 24 percent in 2000 to 39 percent in 2010 is, according to the German Pension Fund, not only due to actually increased burdens, but is also partly due to the greater openness of the population in dealing with the subject of mental illness. (Fp)