More and more children and adolescents in therapy

Romping around in the schoolyard, going bolt together or simply partying with friends, that’s currently impossible for many children and young people. According to a report by the Barmer health insurance company, the number of young people in therapy has been increasing for years and this is not only due to Corona.

Pressure to perform and stress

Leonie (name changed) is a determined young woman from Middle Franconia. The 21-year-old is training in a medical profession and appears personable and communicative. It wasn’t always like that, she says. Earlier in school, she often isolated herself and concentrated primarily on learning. She always wanted the best grades, which stressed her out quite a bit.

Psychotherapy against great fears

A case of illness in the family made her psychological situation even worse. After graduating from high school, she became very scared and asked herself: “Who am I anyway and what do I want?” That is why she decided to start psychotherapy and is now glad that she dared to take this step. Today she feels a lot better than she did three and a half years ago when she started the therapy.

Therapy places needed: Increase also in Bavaria

According to Barmer Krankenkasse, the need for therapy places in Germany increased between 2009 and 2019. Around 823,000 children and adolescents are in psychotherapy across Germany. Above all, adjustment disorders and stress are the cause, according to the report. In Bavaria, too, there has been an increase of around 38 percent since 2009.

Around 60,000 children, adolescents and young adults up to the age of 24 are currently receiving psychotherapeutic treatment (guideline therapy). Guideline therapy includes both short-term and long-term therapies, which can also last for several years.

The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Bavaria (KVB) can also confirm this trend. According to the quarterly figures between 2015 and 2020, there is an increase of around 7,000 children and adolescents under the age of 18 who are being treated by psychotherapists. In total, that will be around 28,000 children and young people across Bavaria by the third quarter of 2020.

Doctors confirm trend

Dr. Martina Hirner, specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy, notices the increasing demand in her practice in Nuremberg. You could hardly keep up with treating all children and adolescents. She believes that parents and children have also become more aware in recent years, which is why children and adolescents are increasingly taking advantage of psychotherapy.

Professor Gunther Moll, chief physician of child and adolescent psychiatry in Erlangen, also sees more and more young people who want to come to him for treatment. In his opinion, stress is one of the main reasons for mental illness.

Suspend school grades this year

For the head physician (member of the Free Voters), the stress of the children often begins at school age. Many would not keep up with the pressure to perform, would then withdraw and give up. This is the first step into depression, said Moll. He therefore calls for school grades to be suspended in pandemic times.

His station is full and so are the waiting lists. That was already the case before Corona, but now the number on the waiting list has increased significantly. The children and adolescents would be very afraid in these times, also because it is not foreseeable how long the pandemic will last. Normally, when people are afraid, they would band together and meet, but that is not currently possible – one of the main factors, according to Professor Moll, for the great fears of his young patients, which can end in mental illness.

Scarce living space as a fire accelerator

Dr. Martina Hirner also has several children and young people who come to her with anxiety disorders. Recently, however, she has also observed more and more parents who come to her practice completely overwhelmed because they live with several children in cramped living conditions in the city. For example, if you don’t have a house with a garden, it is particularly difficult, says Hirner. The stress of these parents also had an impact on the children and adolescents, explains the specialist.

Happy for the therapy

Leonie from Middle Franconia and many of her friends are also troubled by the corona pandemic, she says. She is therefore happy that she started the therapy around three and a half years ago. Especially now in these difficult times, she is happy to have someone outside of the family on a regular basis with whom she can discuss her worries and needs.

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