Stress at work makes you mentally ill

Stress at work makes mentally ill - metropolises Hamburg and Berlin particularly affected.

(19.08.2010) Stress in the workplace and the fear of losing a job are increasingly the cause of mental illness. People in metropolises such as Berlin and Hamburg are particularly likely to suffer the consequences.

In a health report published today, DAK experts have analyzed the days of absence due to mental illness and came to the conclusion that the number of sick leave due to mental illness is highest in Hamburg and Berlin. „Job anxiety, stress in the workplace, work crowding and growing competitive pressure seem to be affecting more and more people with mental illnesses“, said the psychologist Frank Meiners of the DAK. The fact that people in the metropolises are affected in a special way is partly due to the stressful working environment, but it can also be attributed to the broadened range of treatment options in the big cities. Because „Supply creates demand. In large cities there are more treatment options than in rural areas.“, so Meiners. To what extent psychological stress caused by noise and living environment in the metropolitan areas contribute to the increased number of mental illnesses was not investigated in the study.

In Hamburg and Berlin, the DAK registered 179 missing days per 100 insured per mental illness in 2009, while the national average was 134 days lost. Among the best results z. B. Brandenburg with only 126 days lost per 100 insured. The enormous increase in absenteeism was explained by the pressure on the job, with very tight time limits, the demand for perfect performance and the continuous multiple burden of tasks to be completed on the one hand and the constant presence of modern communication technologies such as telephone and internet on the other hand. Added to this is the fear of losing a job, which goes so far as to make some employees unable to get sick leave, despite serious illness.

In terms of sectors, the healthcare system in particular is characterized by a large number of absences due to mental illness. 210 lost days per 100 insured were registered here for the year 2009. „The special stress burdens in the health care leave their mark“, so the explanation of Meiners. The second largest number of failures occurred in 172 vacancies in public administration.

In naturopathy it is pointed out that physical and emotional complaints interact and that this fact must not be taken into account only in a conventional treatment. In everyday life and especially in professional life, not only economic factors should play a role. A relationship or meaningful activities such as hobbies can help individuals to better compensate for negative working conditions and thus suffer less from the consequences of work stress. (Fp)

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