Employees are increasingly absent due to mental illnesses

According to an evaluation by the General Local Health Insurance Fund (AOK), mental illnesses such as depression or burnout are increasingly becoming a driver of absenteeism from work - and with long downtimes. That's why there were 403 days of incapacity for work per 100 fund members last year, as the AOK Federal Association announced based on its own insured data. In 2016 there were 284 days per 100 members.

Respiratory diseases such as colds and flu are still a much more common cause of sickness reports. However, sick leave for this reason only lasted 5.7 days on average. In contrast, employees with mental illnesses were absent an average of 28.5 days per case in 2025. Data from 14.9 million employed AOK insured people were evaluated for the analyses.

Social professions severely affected

Employees in social professions are particularly affected by mental illnesses, explained the managing director of the AOK Scientific Institute, Helmut Schröder. At the top are employees in call centers, followed by employees in nursing and childcare.

With regard to the causes of mental illnesses such as depression or burnout, the AOK pointed out that several factors work together. These included stress caused by general political crises, the intensification and “losing of boundaries” of work due to constant availability, or stress caused by caring for relatives or childcare.

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