Sharp increase in people calling in sick with mental health problems

Illness absenteeism is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. But the share of people calling in sick due to mental health problems - psychological absenteeism - has risen sharply, NU.nl reports based on figures from health and safety service providers HumanCare Capital and ArboNed.

Psychological absenteeism is currently about 10 percent higher than it was in the same period of pre-coronavirus 2019. “That is a lot,” Juriaan Penders, company doctor and director of medical affairs at HumanCareCapital, said to the newspaper. “The share of absenteeism for mental health reasons is increasing further in the total number of sick reports.”

According to Penders, this type of absenteeism is often caused by high work pressure and stress. “Which is related to the shortage in the labor market.” Though it is not all work-related, he added. “It is the whole of society. People have concerns. It is difficult to participate. Society demands much more from us.”

The total absenteeism due to illness in August was slightly higher than in the same month in 2019. “This difference can largely be explained by the absenteeism of people with Long Covid,” Penders said. According to him, the coronavirus barely affects the number of sick reports at this stage.