Depression is a serious illness that is treated by a doctor and results in a sick leave.
But how long can she go?
In the last 20 years the number of lost work due to mental illness has risen sharply.
Much of this is due to
depression
.
However, a high number of unreported cases must also be expected, as many people
do not take sick
leave or, even worse, do not even go to the doctor
for fear of negative consequences due to depression
.
This is a big mistake, however, because depression is a
serious mental illness
that
needs to be treated
by a
specialist doctor
.
The typical signs of depression are mainly dejection, listlessness, and lack of interest.
Often there are also
physical complaints
that are difficult to identify, such as
pain in the limbs and stomach
.
In this article, we answer the most important questions about sick leave * for
depression
.
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Depression sick leave: the most important information
Basically, and this cannot be repeated enough,
signs of depression should not be ignored
.
Recovery can come primarily through
professional help
.
Further information can be found below:
Which doctor can issue the sick note?
There are three options: The sick leave, a
family doctor
, a
specialist
, but also a
tele-medical
issue, writes
praktischarzt.de
.
The latter choice is recommended if a visit to the doctor is
refused
for
various reasons
.
Tele-doctors can also make diagnoses and initiate therapy.
What criteria does the doctor use to make the diagnosis?
In general, one speaks of a depression in the department if the person affected
has been very down almost consistently for at least two weeks
.
Furthermore, depression indicates when the patient loses interest in his hobbies, does not maintain social contacts, looks pessimistic about the future and / or
feels
very
guilty
.
How long is sick leave with depression?
There is no general answer to this, as the attending physician makes an individual diagnosis and releases the patient from work for a correspondingly long time.
A single sick leave
normally
lasts
up to two weeks
, in exceptional cases up to a month.
A sick leave can then be issued again.
There is no maximum upper limit.
In most cases of mild depression, the person affected can
return to work
after a few weeks
- whereas severe depression can result in
lifelong incapacity
for
work
.
What should you watch out for when you are on sick leave due to depression?
First of all, it is important that the employee immediately informs his employer of the sick leave.
This also includes providing the person in charge with a certificate of incapacity for work (AU for short).
Important: Employees do
not have to tell
their company
why they are on sick leave
.
A neutral sick note can either be issued by the family doctor based on the findings from the psychiatrist or psychologist, or the treating clinic can write a
neutral AU
directly
.
+
There is no maximum limit on sick leave for depression.
The diagnosis of the attending physician is decisive.
© imago images / Manngold
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What about the salary and the threat of job loss?
Employees can be
sick for up to six weeks a
year
without having to fear for their jobs.
For this period, the company continues to pay the employee's salary - it pays the so-called continued
payment
,
white
arbeitsvertrag.org
.
But even afterwards you don't have to expect a termination directly.
Only then will the health insurance company continue to pay the wages.
One then speaks of
sick pay
, which is 70 percent of the gross salary.
Whether the employer will continue to employ the employee depends to a large extent on the
individual prognosis of
how long the downtime due to the depression will last.
In many cases the company
doctor
can also help, who incidentally is also subject to
medical confidentiality
.
(fh) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen central editorial network.
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Do you need professional help?
This link will take you to the
Deutsche Depressionshilfe
website
, where you will find further contact options and corresponding telephone numbers.
In urgent cases, dial 112
.
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Article sources: Arbeitsvertrag.org & Praktarzt.de