Last year, more than 100,000 people in Finland received extended sick leave benefits due to mental health issues. That figure has more than doubled since 2000, according to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).
Mental health disorders have become the most common reason for illness-related work absences, the benefits agency said in a press release.
The upward trend has continued since 2016, according to Kela, which added that there was a three percent uptick in such absences last year — or nearly 3,000 more people than in 2022.
Kela research chief Jenni Blomgren said that the development reflects changes at work and in society.
"If we want to change the trend, it is important that we intervene in working conditions and social structures that add to people's mental load," she wrote in the agency's press release.
The increase is particularly due to anxiety disorders. Nearly half of those who took sick leave for mental health issues last year had been diagnosed with such a disorder — reflecting a seven percent increase compared to 2022.
Blomgren called the trend worrying, noting that the biggest uptick in anxiety disorders were seen among those under the age of 35.
Big Covid changes
Kela compensates long-term work absences, starting after at least 10 days of sick leave. The agency said that while it spent more on overall sick leave payments last year, there were nearly 10,000 fewer recipients than in 2022, which Kela attributed to changes in the coronavirus situation.
Last year Kela paid sick leave compensation to around 4,000 people diagnosed with Covid, significantly fewer than the 18,000 people it paid in 2022.
Blomgren said the changes in sick leave allowance payouts were most significantly affected by the pandemic's decline.
She said that at one point Covid was one of the most common illnesses that prompted extended sick leave payments, but last year the disease was not "significantly visible".
Overall, Kela paid out reimbursements for around 15 million sick leave days in 2023, amounting to around 900 million euros.
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