Does working from home make you sick in the long run?

Mental illnesses are also increasing in the pandemic. It often affects people who are in the middle of their professional life. Doctors warn: The social consequences are hardly foreseeable so far.

From Stefan Maier, SWR From successful manager to psychological wreck: Karl-Heinz Schiller has had a tough time. He was an employee of a large corporation, after a burnout he was sorted out by the company. He tried to start his own business as a business consultant, then his sister died, and finally Corona came along. He didn’t gain a foothold. “Then the panic attacks began,” says Schiller. “How are things going in the future? Keeping the finances in line. It’s not easy. You get into a vortex where you are really no longer able to do things that were previously taken for granted.” Today he is better again – after a stay of several weeks in the Max Grundig Specialist Clinic for Psychosomatics on the Bühlerhöhe in the Black Forest.

Mental illnesses put a strain on the health system

There are still hardly any studies on the increase in mental illnesses since the outbreak of the pandemic. But Christian Graz, head physician at the Max Grundig Clinic, gives a few figures that make the extent of the problem clear. Even before Corona, 15 percent of people in Europe suffered from anxiety disorders: 62 million sufferers who caused health costs of 80 billion euros annually. “We see a highly significant increase, especially among children and adolescents,” says Graz. “When I speak to colleagues, they double the number of child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care. And these people will eventually get older, and these will be the patients of tomorrow who will deal with us.”

Experts fear long-term consequences

The COPSY study conducted by the Hamburg University Hospital, for which more than 1,000 children and 1,600 parents were questioned, also found an increase in mental illnesses. Result: eight out of ten children feel stressed by the pandemic, seven out of ten suffer from a reduced quality of life, before the pandemic there were three. Every third child is psychologically abnormal, 50 percent more than before. Children and young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and with a migrant background are particularly affected – a problem that, according to Christian Graz’s experience, will burden an entire generation. “Anyone who has ever suffered from a psychosomatic illness has a higher risk of falling ill again,” says the doctor. “And young people are less resilient to dealing with such crises than older people.”

Despite greater resilience: The special circumstances of work at home affect both the old and the young. Many employees are prone to self-exploitation and work longer than in the office, often at night when the children are asleep. According to a study by the Hans Böckler Foundation, half of those in employment perceive their home office situation to be severe or extremely stressful, while the figure for single parents or low-income earners is as high as 62 percent. The multiple burden of work, housework and help with learning affects women in particular. This affects the mental state. Anxiety disorders, according to the psychosomatic specialist Graz, are twice as pronounced among women as among men. They need treatment.

Karl-Heinz Schiller (left) with chief physician Christian Graz. Schiller hopes to have overcome his anxiety disorder. Image: SWR

Anxiety and depression are still taboo subjects

Fear, says Graz, actually makes sense physiologically – a useful feeling, because we protect ourselves by withdrawing. But fear can become pathological. It then expresses itself physically: through headaches, sleep disorders, faster pulse, increased tension, the tendency to brood. Reasons are feelings of powerlessness, black painting, the tendency to “catastrophize”. Young women and men who are self-employed are particularly affected, says the specialist in psychosomatics. Generalized anxiety disorders have tripled since the outbreak of the pandemic. But mental illnesses are often still a taboo, and those affected often feel stigmatized, especially the so-called top performers. They then come to the hospital because of the physical problems to find out that the symptoms have psychological causes – and often require weeks or months of treatment. Karl-Heinz Schiller, who is now about to be discharged from the Max Grundig Clinic, also had to experience this. Not completely healed, but on the way back to a normal life. He was lucky, because in Corona times there are hardly any psychosomatic treatment places in Germany.