Alarming: sickness reports due to mental illnesses are increasing rapidly
Stress was yesterday – new book by Sven-David Müller and Almut Müller
Current figures are alarming: sick leave in companies is increasing significantly in Germany. While the average days of absence a year ago were 15 days, in 2023 they were already 20 days per employee. “This has to be taken seriously,” confirms relaxation therapist Almut Müller. “Work is already cited as the number 1 stress factor. The more employees are absent due to illness, the more work falls on each individual employee. Pressure and stress are increasing,” says health scientist Professor Sven-David Müller, concerned. What is particularly striking is that more and more sick reports are being reported due to mental illnesses and stress. This reflects what the relaxation therapist Almut Müller observes in her courses and practice: On the one hand, people have become more sensitive in dealing with psychological stress. What was frowned upon just a few years ago is now openly discussed and is no longer taboo. So much for the good news. However, it has long been impossible to deny how stress is increasing significantly in everyone’s life.
“Many factors play a role here. Not only have the demands on employees’ services increased, but also their own demands on quality of life and constant availability, not least due to the permanent presence of social media, have increased enormously.” Sven-David Müller compares modern life to a walk on the river Highway in the middle of rush hour traffic. The constant overstimulation causes stress and makes you sick in the long run and, for many people, even fat. The current guide from qualified educator Almut Müller and nutrition expert Sven-David Müller, who is well-known in the press, radio and television: “Stress is a thing of the past. “How to escape daily stress” (Mainz Verlag, Aachen) addresses the topic of rising stress levels and provides relief: “We take the situation of modern lifestyles seriously without pointing fingers,” emphasizes Sven-David Müller. It is important to first understand what triggers the stress in your own life so that you can then take targeted measures to combat it.
Scolding superiors and moaning colleagues are not particularly helpful. On the contrary – they only increase the pressure. “Most companies know the problem: work and tasks of employees who are absent due to illness have to be taken on and taken care of by fewer employees,” explains Müller. The result is the stress cycle in companies. The few who can do the work are in turn damaged by stress. A flat rate for relaxation from companies is no longer enough, emphasizes Müller. Other measures are more promising. And so Almut Müller and Sven-David Müller focus on prevention and active stress reduction through targeted, customizable measures, which are described in detail and understandably in their guide. Active stress management and targeted relaxation are the methods of choice if sick leave in companies is to be significantly reduced in the medium and long term. In this way, everyone can actively contribute to a company’s health management. More in the book “Stress was yesterday” and on the Internet at www.radikaleentspann.de
Information, interviews, viewing copies at: [email protected]
Bibliographic data: Müller, Almut, Sven-David Müller: Stress is a thing of the past. How to escape daily stress. Mainz Verlag, Aachen, 2023. ISBN: 978 3 86317 064 6
The German Competence Center for Health Promotion and Dietetics, founded in Cologne in 2006, is the network and mouthpiece for all professional groups that are active in scientifically based health promotion as well as everyone interested in health who would like to benefit from the bundling of information and campaigns. The medical society is recognized as a non-profit organization and registered in the register of associations.
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