Читать книгу First Aid for the Artist's Soul - Christina Barandun - Страница 20

A new dimension to health and safety at work was added in 2013. Since 2013, the German Occupational Safety and Health Act (ASG) contains the following provision: “Work must be designed such that any risk to life as well as to physical and mental health is avoided to the greatest possible degree and the remaining risk is kept as low as possible.” (Section 4, no. 1 ASG.)

The reason for the addition of “mental health” lies in the dramatic rise in psychological illnesses over the past twenty years, due to increased workload and stress.

I should underscore at this point that mental stress – everything impacting thoughts, emotions and behaviour – is not, as such, negative. Quite the contrary. Life would be boring without chills and thrills, for instance, before a stage performance. But if the state of being thrilled takes on such a magnitude that we are continuously hyped up, an exhilarating psychological challenge turns into overburdening mental strain.

It’s important to note that the personally perceived stress level differs for each person. I respond to certain things with great excitement, while other people are not fazed by them at all, and vice versa. In addition, one stress factor alone might not be enough to cause significant distress. You can probably deal with uncomfortable chairs in the orchestra section, but if the noise level also rises and you experience conflicts with colleagues, these things combined become a mental strain.

The consequences are severe, and the numbers are frightening. According to the 2016 report on absenteeism published by the AOK (German health insurer), the number of absent days due to mental illness has risen by 72 per cent since 2004. With an average of 25.6 days, the duration of absences caused by mental problems was twice as long as the average of all absences (11.6 days) in 2015. And according to the BKK (statutory health insurance in Germany) Health Report 2016, mental illness is the third most common cause of sick leave.