Many people feel exhausted by their lives. They suffer from permanent tension, too much pressure and too many obligations.
The data published by the KKH this week are alarming. For the first half of 2023, the health insurance fund recorded 303 days of absence per 100 insured persons. Absenteeism due to mental health problems increased by 85 per cent in the first half of 2023 compared to the previous year.[1]
"If you put the statistics of the health insurance company next to our EAP statistics for depression, anxiety and burnout, which we determine among our clinicians, we come to a comparable result," says psychotherapist Dr Ludmila Peregrinova, head of counselling at INSITE-Interventions GmbH, one of the leading EAP providers with more than 600 client companies. "If we look at the reasons for counselling among our clients, psychological problems represent the highest proportion. Compared to 2022, we see an increase in these concerns of almost 50%.”
The numbers are alarming. A high rate of stress and absenteeism among employees means at the same time that colleagues who are able to work have to fill the void. The risk of downward spirals in teams is then especially high. "Stress and the feeling of not (any longer) being able to cope with the demands is one of the most frequent statements of our clients," says Dr Peregrinova.
Other studies also confirm this development. According to AXA's Mental Health Report 2023, which was compiled together with the opinion research institute IPSOS, a large part of the German population is mentally burdened[2] The feeling of living in a permanent state of crisis has consequences; for example, coping with problems becomes an increasing challenge. Putting the top answer to the question of what one would hope for if one had one wish - "health" - in relation to the figures in the KKH Report makes the dramatic situation clear. The well-known saying: "Health is not everything, but without health everything is nothing", reveals its significance.
It is becoming essential for companies to invest in the mental health of their employees.. "We are observing that our client companies are making special efforts in the field of mental health. An EAP is just one building block in this process“, notes Alexander Oster, Managing Director of INSITE. The simultaneity of many organisational necessities such as profitability, digitalisation, process optimisation and other, well-being-oriented expectations of the workforce makes it difficult to give universally valid recommendations for action. Every company is slightly different and has its own needs. "Even so," highlights Alexander Oster, "there are many good examples of how companies can do something effective to counter this development!"
[1] Fehlzeiten wegen Depressionen & Co. stark gestiegen | KKH
