In Bavaria, more and more adolescent girls with anxiety disorders are being treated in hospital. The number of affected 15 to 17 year olds rose in 2022 compared to the pre-corona year 2019 by 39 percent to a new high. This emerges from a special analysis of hospital data as part of the child and youth report of the health insurance company DAK Bayern, which is available to the German Press Agency.
Accordingly, the treatment numbers of teenagers for eating disorders and depression increased significantly. “The massive increase in anxiety, eating disorders and depression among girls is a cry for help that must wake us up,” emphasized DAK country manager Sophie Schwab. “The ongoing crises are leaving deep scars in the souls of many young people, with the current hospital data being just the tip of the iceberg.”
A rapid and broad prevention offensive in schools, clubs and associations is necessary. “We are in the middle of a mental health pandemic, the effects of which are only gradually becoming apparent,” said Christoph Correll, Director of the Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy of Children and Adolescents at the Charité in Berlin.
For the study, scientists analyzed the accounting data of around 106,000 children and young people insured with DAK Bayern from the years 2018 to 2022 – and thus included around five percent of all 0 to 17 year olds in Bavaria. Because of this broad membership base of the third largest health insurance company in Germany, the data are considered representative. Extrapolated to all young people in Bavaria, around 950 girls between the ages of 15 and 17 came to the hospital for an anxiety disorder last year, an increase of 39 percent compared to 2019. Their hospital stays increased by 49 percent for eating disorders and 37 for depression Percent.
In male teenagers, on the other hand, the number of cases is significantly lower: of the extrapolated 1150 young people who were last treated in hospital with an anxiety disorder, only 200 were male. Of the 700 teenagers with an eating disorder, only 50 were boys, and of the 3,400 teenagers hospitalized for depression, 550 were male. A similar picture emerges for school children between the ages of 10 and 14, the cash register added. The reasons: “Girls are more inclined to internalizing mental disorders than boys,” explained Michael Hubmann from the professional association of paediatricians in Bavaria.
They tend to withdraw into themselves with depression and anxiety, while boys more often show outward behavior, i.e. become aggressive. Behavioral and emotional disorders are also more often treated on an outpatient basis, while patients with depression, anxiety and eating disorders are more often admitted to clinics.
The total number of inpatient treatments for children and adolescents due to mental problems or behavioral disorders fell by eleven percent during the corona pandemic – presumably due to the shortage of beds and staff. “Against this background, the increase in anxiety disorders, eating disorders and depression is even more dramatic,” emphasized Corell.