Status: 03.01.2022 4:27 p.m.
More than every third disabled person had to give up his job because of a mental illness – this is the result of an analysis by the life insurer Debeka for 2020. It is unclear what role the pandemic played in this.
According to data from the Debeka insurance group, mental illness remains by far the number one cause of occupational disability. According to its own information, the fourth-largest life insurer in Germany had evaluated its portfolio of around 481,000 people insured against occupational disability for 2020.
For 40.6 percent of the analyzed benefit cases, mental illnesses were the reason for the incapacity to work, as the cooperative-based company with headquarters in Koblenz announced. Effects of the corona pandemic for 2020 “have not yet been identified or confirmed”. The number of mental illnesses as the main cause of occupational disability has fluctuated between 40 and 45 percent for years and fell again in 2019 and 2020.
Slight increase in the number of mental health treatments
As the second main reason for occupational disability, Debeka cited, with traditionally many officials, tumors such as cancer among its insured persons – they accounted for 16.9 percent of the cases. At 14.1 percent, problems with parts of the musculoskeletal system such as the back and joints were the third most common reason for not being able to work in 2020.
In the case of psychological treatments in the outpatient area as well as in the area of medical choice in the hospital – by the chief physician, for example – an evaluation of the data in the Debeka health insurance showed a minimal increase, it said. For 2019, around 878,400 treatments were 3.27 percent more than in the previous year, and in 2020 the increase was 1.7 percent. According to the insurer, it remains to be seen whether this development will be reflected in occupational disability.