Mental Disorders: A third of all women and a quarter of all men are affected
Affected persons are absent at work at an average of 4 days a month. That is the result of a study of the TU Dresden under the direction of professor Hans-Ulrich Wittchen within the frame of a comprehensive research project of the Robert Koch-Institut (RKI).
In search of the most common mental illnesses in Germany, it manifested that a third of all 18-year-old to 80-year-old persons suffer from a mental disorder, whereas the span between 18 to 35 years shows the highest prevalence. As for men, mostly addictive disorders appear, while for women, mostly anxiety disorders show up. It is clearly allocated that not dealt with mental disorders restrict the quality of life very often to decades and often run a chronical course.
Fig. 1: Healthy Organisation - Mental Disorders
The appearance of mental disorders leads to monthly absent times at work of an average of three to four days. If several disorders show simultaneously, the average number of absent days rises to 11,6 per month.
A distressing fact with regard to the background of decades of interference is the treatment rate: Only 30,5 % of the affected persons have used assisted help and treatment. Very often, this treatment only took place when additional illnesses had restricted the affected persons' lives for years and when the illness had run a chronical course. The treatment rate was very bad in the mostly affected group of the 18-year-old to 35-year-old persons.
What does this mean for you? Be on the watch towards colleagues and employees; have the courage to approach critical subjects; do not look away in order to avoid unpleasant subjects; see experts and ask for advice. If there is no such possibility in your organisation, then build up a network outside your company. This gives security and enables quick help.