What makes me sick
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Anxiety, stress, burnout, depression
Mental disorders and illnesses such as anxiety, stress, and exhaustion up to depression, often summarized under ‚burnout,‘ have meanwhile ceased to be just a ‚manager’s disease‘ because increasingly broader sections of the population seem to be affected. In particular, the term burnout, which in the general assessment seems to be associated with exhaustion after previous overexertion, i.e., more of a high-performance potential, has developed a solid suggestive power and almost ‚contagious‘ potential! The fact of its linguistic existence alone creates those affected! In this way, terms seem to create realities, say critics of the term „burnout.“
However, new terms also show new diseases that may not yet be diagnosed using rigid biological criteria but have become a social reality.
Who is affected?
Since no standardized diagnostic criteria exist for the burnout phenomenon, it isn’t easy to describe. The following picture emerges from surveys:
- Almost always, people with multiple burdens, including homemakers and mothers
- People who carry out activities with high pressure on time, cost, deadline, and a ‚bad working atmosphere.‘
- People in occupations with relatively low social recognition
- People in professions that are subject to social criticism.
However, if you take a closer look at the symptoms associated with burnout, they not only remind you but also correspond to categories that match some diagnoses in the International Classification System (ICD 10): e.g., light, medium to severe depressive disorders, as well as adjustment disorders with symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Numbers and facts
There are also more reliable epidemiological figures, collected above all by health insurance companies, which have observed the development of certain diseases of their insured persons over the years. A dramatic picture emerges here, supporting the assumption that burnout is rampant.
Find out the facts and figures from the DAK health report (2024) surveys, the stress report, and the information brochures from AOK and TK.
In the DAK Health Report 2013, which focuses on the subject of mental illnesses, it showed already:
„The increase in incapacity for work due to mental illness has been by far the most noticeable development in incapacity for work for about 15 years. The DAK health reports 2002 and 2005 made a significant contribution to bringing this development to the attention of the general public and experts now a period of 16
Years (2000 -2020). During this time, the number of days absent due to mental illness has increased enormously. (…)
From 2000 to 2020, the number of days of incapacity for work due to mental illness increased by 165 percent (…). The inability to work increased roughly the same magnitude, namely by 142 percent (…).
The proportion of those affected, i.e., employees on sick leave due to a psychological diagnosis, increased by 131 percent in the period under review.
The most important key figures for sick leave due to mental diagnoses also make the relevance of the topic clear: With a share of 14.5 percent of the days absent, mental illnesses are increasing.
[for the first time] ranked second among the most critical causes of sick leave – behind musculoskeletal disorders [and before respiratory disorders]. Among women, more than one out of six days of sick leave can be attributed to a psychological diagnosis. “
Given this initially purely quantitative increase, the DAK Health Report 2013 asks in its main topic: „Update mental illnesses.“ Are we sick differently today?
„The development of inability to work due to mental illness has been the cause of a series of public debates for years, with the following questions being discussed:
- Does the increase in sick leave due to mental illness reflect an actual increase in the prevalence of these disorders?
- Does an improved diagnostic competence of general practitioners and a de-stigmatization of mental illnesses mean that doctors and patients are more likely to make or allow such a diagnosis?
- What role does the world of work play in this? Have the stresses caused by increased workload, flexibilization, and precariousness increased to such an extent that they are responsible for the phenomenon of increasing absenteeism due to mental illness?
Concerning the last question, a new emphasis on the role of the world of work has developed in recent years: the enormous attention paid to burnout syndrome. In the meantime, burnout syndrome has become a metaphor for psychological suffering, the leading cause of which is suspected to be in the world of work. “
Practice of Prof. Stark
Holistic diagnosis and therapy of psychosomatic disorders
Given these facts and figures, which clearly show a growing need for scientifically sound approaches to treating these phenomena, Prof. Stark and his team have made it their business to find out how to contribute to a responsible, holistic approach to the causes and effects of burnout and depression on an individual level as well as in business and society!
Let me now come back to the specific work with the patient: To ensure the most efficient treatment possible, it is essential to distinguish between the symptoms of the categories of Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, and Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrom (CFS) as clearly as possible, whereby there are of course smooth transitions. The following pages should help you to classify your symptoms, recognize your actual risk, and develop initial ideas about an efficient treatment.