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Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The number of days lost due to mental illnesses in North Rhine-Westphalia rose to a record high in the corona year 2020, according to the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit.
In North Rhine-Westphalia there were therefore an average of 282 days of absence for every 100 employed insured persons, the national average was around 265, said the DAK in Düsseldorf.
The health care system had the greatest increase: There was an increase in the number of days absent due to depression and other mental illnesses of 18 percent for employees such as nurses, medical assistants or employed doctors.
The year-on-year increase mainly affected women.
In this way, the employees in hospitals and medical practices ousted the public administration from the first place of sick leave due to mental illness.
"The pollution caused by the pandemic became obvious here," said DAK-Gesundheit.
In the administration they would have apparently lost something.
“Perhaps working from home was also a positive factor,” speculated Klaus Overdiek, the head of the DAK state representation in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In general, absent days for psychological reasons have been increasing for years.
The DAK is the third largest statutory health insurance company in Germany and has 5.6 million insured persons, over a million of them in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In its Psychreport, the health insurance fund emphasized that there was a clear trend towards longer sick leave in this area in 2020.
The analysis included data from more than 400,000 people insured with the health insurance company in NRW, as well as absenteeism with a psychological diagnosis.
The average duration of a mental illness of 43 days is longer than ever before, explained the health insurance company.
Another common reason for sick leave is back pain.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210311-99-773107 / 2