Rehabilitation for mental illness

 

If the soul becomes sick, long absences from work are often the result. Many rehabilitation clinics have, therefore, now specialized in the treatment of mental illnesses.

Aims of rehab for mental illness

Stress, excessive demands, anxiety, depression - almost every second has a mental illness at some point in their lives. The number of those affected is growing, also because more people today dare to speak openly about their illness. Deutsche Rentenversicherung now has around 200 rehabilitation centers specializing in the treatment and therapy of people with mental illnesses.

Those who become mentally ill often fail for a long time and draw a disability pension more than the average. With differentiated rehabilitation concepts, the statutory pension insurance pursues several goals:

·         Patients should learn to understand their illness better to do something about it themselves (strengthening their initiative).

·         Therapeutic measures to reduce functional disorders should help insured persons to participate more actively in life again.

·         Therapists want to work with patients to find ways out of personal crises.

·         The rehab will help provide for professional and social reintegration. Aftercare concepts play an important role.

·         The overriding goal of all therapeutic measures is that the insured can continue to work, and their quality of life is improved.

The psychosomatic-psychotherapeutic rehabilitation is offered almost exclusively as an inpatient. With an average of around six weeks, the treatment duration is usually longer than in medical rehab.

Indicators according to which a psychosomatic rehabilitation is requested and approved according to medical findings or that of an expert include:

·         depressions

·         Anxiety disorders

·         Eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, obesity)

·         Pain disorders

·         sleep disorders

·         Post-traumatic stress

·         Functional complaints

·         Personality disorders

·         ADHD

·         Sexual dysfunction and behavioral disorders

·         Obsessive-compulsive disease

·         Work-related fears, bullying, and burnout

However, mental disorders also arise in the course of or due to severe chronic illnesses or after severe disability due to accidents. From a medical point of view, rehab is advocated if

·         There is evidence that the underlying illness of the mental disorder is persistent

·         Pretreatments have not led to sufficient improvement

·         participation in working life and social life is severely impaired

·         There is a positive employment forecast

Medical requirements

In principle, insured persons must be "fit for rehabilitation" - they must be resilient enough to actively participate in therapies and applications. The patient must want the therapy to be successful and show a willingness to change behavior ("treatment motivation"). The pension insurance checks this before rehab is approved.

Other medical requirements must also be met:

·         The doctor must prescribe the rehab,

·         The ability to work must be significantly reduced or at risk due to the illness,

·         The reduction can probably be averted,

·         The ability to work can be improved or restored,

·         The job can be preserved.

Insurance law requirements

Whoever wants to apply for rehabilitation has to

·         Have paid mandatory contributions for insured employment or activity six calendar months in the last two years before the application or

·         Have taken up insured employment or self-employment within two years of training or

·         Meet the minimum insurance period of five years at the time of the application.

Even those who are already drawing a pension can apply for rehab. This also applies to uninsured spouses and partners of insured persons and pension recipients, and surviving dependents.

Therapy offers

Because of the variety of mental illnesses, it is the basis of every rehab that the clinic team and patient define the rehab goals together. The more than 200 clinics for psychosomatic rehabilitation have developed differentiated concepts for treatment. Rehabilitation concepts for special groups include different treatment methods, for example, for

·         Elderly and unemployed patients

·         Insured with long periods of incapacity for work

·         People with unfavorable motivation and little willingness to change

·         Insured persons with negative subjective employment prognosis

Although the prevalence and form of men's and women's psychiatric illnesses vary, gender rehab definitions are often presented. "Special occupational problems" treatment requires tailored medical assessments and career associated therapeutic programs. The material can be more intertwined with the insured's working reality. Strategies for coping with workplace pressures are created. The treatment plan always consists of:

·         Psychotherapy/behavior therapy

·         Medical therapy

·         Drug therapy

·         Exercise therapy

·         Occupational therapy

·         Sociotherapy

·         Physical therapy

·         Relaxation techniques

·         Social counseling

Here you will know more about Telehealth psychiatry services.