Psyche: Working people are sick for significantly longer

15.02.2021 10:18

Exhausted and burned out: The psychological stress of many working people in Germany has increased during the Corona pandemic. According to insured data from KKH Kaufmännische Krankenkasse, employees were on sick leave for an average of 43.7 days last year due to depression, chronic exhaustion, etc. That is 4.2 days more than in 2019 before the pandemic.

The KKH recorded the greatest increase of 7.1 days in Thuringia, the lowest in Brandenburg and Hesse with 2.1 days each. On average, working people were absent the longest in North Rhine-Westphalia at just under 53 days, and the shortest in Saxony-Anhalt at 35.5 days. Doctors most commonly diagnosed depressive disorders, reactions to severe stress and adjustment disorders as well as chronic exhaustion and anxiety disorders.

“We cannot tell from the numbers whether the increased absences are directly related to the Corona crisis,” says KKH business psychologist Antje Judick. Isolation and quarantine measures as well as the associated changes in everyday professional and private life definitely left their mark. Many working people are still under constant stress due to a lack of childcare, caring for relatives in need of help, increasing isolation and fear of existence due to short-time work, insolvency and job loss. But dealing with the previously unknown situation and the helplessness often experienced also create great uncertainty. Such drastic changes could have an additional negative impact, especially for people with psychological problems, explains Antje Judick. “And the fact that employees are on sick leave for significantly longer on average shows that there are apparently more long-term cases than before the pandemic.”