Mental disorders continue to increase sharply

Mental disorders continue to increase sharply. More and more frequently, people have to get sick due to depressive episodes.

12/02/2011

More and more frequently people have to be ill due to a mental illness such as depression from the doctor. This was pointed out by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), which carried out an evaluation of the previous year of its insured status. Overall, the health insurance company analyzed the data of around 3.5 million health insured persons. The TK evaluated not only the data of employees, but also from Hartz IV and unemployment benefit Einsferner.

Overall, the health insurance reported a decline in medical records, said the spokeswoman Gudrun Ahlers. „We record about 2.4 percent fewer sick leave for 2010 than in 2009“. A significant decrease in cases of illness could be observed in respiratory diseases such as cough or flu infections. Nevertheless, the sickness rate stagnated at 3.36 percent compared to the previous year (2009: 3.32 percent).

14 percent more sick leave due to mental disorders
Ahlers, who is responsible for writing health reports, quickly identified the reason for this. The share of mental illnesses in sick leave has continued to increase sharply compared to the previous year. Increasingly, patients go into medical treatment, because of diseases such as depression or fatigue syndrome „Burnout“ To suffer. „In one year, mental illness absences have risen by almost 14 percent“, reports the expert. From a purely statistical point of view, every employee in Germany was unable to work for at least two days last year due to a mental disorder.

Differences in sick leave made the health insurance in the various federal states. Least of all were the people in Baden-Württemberg sick. On average, the employees were ill for almost 10 days (9.9). The people most frequently reported sick in the new federal states, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the insured had sick leave about 15.5 days.

Stress and pressure in the workplace
The reasons for the increase in mental suffering are obvious. According to an evaluation of the Federal Association of Psychotherapists, the increased number of cases of illness due to the growing pressure to perform, the fear of unemployment and stress in the workplace to find. Since the nineties, mental illness has almost doubled. Those who are no longer able to cope with the growing demands of employers increasingly react with depressive episodes and stress symptoms. Other reasons include under-compensation and an increasing lack of time in the workplace. The consequences: dissatisfaction, loss of self-esteem and frustration. The unemployed, on the other hand, often react with depression because they no longer feel they are needed and feel increasing social pressure from outside. (Sb)

Read about mental disorders & sick leave:
Burn out usually affects the committed
Increase in mental illness in adolescents
Absenteeism: Increase in mental illness
Depression increases physical pain?
Every third person suffers from mental disorders

Picture: Gerd Altmann