Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the demand for psychotherapy has increased. Practices report significantly more anxiety and depression among people in Thuringia. From the point of view of experts, something has to change fundamentally.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - The demand for appointments in psychotherapeutic practices in Thuringia in the summer of this year was significantly higher than before the start of the corona pandemic. According to the results of a survey by the German Psychotherapists' Association (DPtV), the high demand from the past year seems to be stabilizing. "We even assume that this will increase as the crises subside," said Dagmar Petereit, state chairwoman of DPtV Thuringia, with a view to corona, war and climate. The request to the appointment service points of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Thuringia is now increasing rather than decreasing.
According to the Germany-wide DPtV survey, the number of patient inquiries to health insurance practices in the summer of 2022 was still around 40 percent higher than before Corona (compared to January 2020). The inquiries from private practices were around 60 percent higher. According to the survey, the request for psychotherapy practices for children and adolescents had fallen slightly, but with an increase of almost 50 percent it was still significantly higher than before the pandemic.
The Germany-wide results coincided with the experiences of the Thuringian psychotherapists, said Petereit. Here, too, demand has increased particularly significantly in the larger cities - Erfurt, Jena and Weimar - and less in rural areas.
"People just felt a lot more burdened," said the psychotherapist from Erfurt. Anxiety and depression in particular have become a problem for many since the beginning of the pandemic. Corona also led people to the practices who had usually coped well with their problems, said Petereit. The measures have eliminated important compensation options. That put a lot of people off balance.
The consequences are particularly visible in children. "They just suffered enormously," said Petereit. Anxiety disorders had increased significantly more among young people. However, there is currently a waiting time of up to one and a half years for a therapy place for a child in Thuringia.
The DPtV as well as the Ostdeutsche Psychotherapeutenkammer (OPK) call for further settlement opportunities for psychotherapists in order to meet the increasing demand. In rural areas in Thuringia, for example, there are far more trained psychotherapists than cash registers, said Petereit. The numbers are outdated and no longer do justice to sick leave.
According to Petereit, it is positive that young people in particular are willing to say: "I'm not feeling well, I'll get help". And adults are now much more open to admitting to themselves and others that they have mental problems.
Before the pandemic began, Petereit could not say for sure whether the constant increase in demand could also have something to do with the destigmatization of psychotherapies and the increasing knowledge of the suffering of patients and doctors. The enormous increase in demand during Corona goes "well beyond destigmatization".
