The annual health report of the Techniker Krankenkasse, which deals with incapacities to work and medication prescriptions among the insured, found in this year's health report that there was an increase in mental illness among students.

In the first part of the health report, 1,000 students were asked about their emotional and physical health. In the second part, the students' medication prescriptions were evaluated. The result of the first part is a strong increase of psychological and emotional stress among the Students. For example, the proportion of students who feel very emotionally exhausted has increased by 48 percent from 2017 to 2023. In its analysis of the survey, TK said more than one in three students are at risk of imminent bournout. Whereas in the years before the pandemic, students had an above average state of health compared to other occupational groups, it is now apparent that there has been a significant deterioration in health among students in recent years and that this is now at the same level as other adults and in certain respects even above them, which is shown in the second part of the study.

In the second part, when looking at prescriptions, it is found that among students, the use of antidepressants has also increased. Thus, the proportion of students who were prescribed antidepressants increased by about 30 percent from 2019 to 2022. Accordingly, about 5.0 percent of all students were taking antidepressants for a short or long period of time in 2022. This means that students are currently taking antidepressants more frequently than other workers of the same age. The proportion of corresponding prescriptions is particularly high among students in the state of Baden Württemberg, also at around 0.5 percent. The only state in Germany with an even higher proportion is Schleswig Holstein.

Given the background to the increased number of mental illnesses, it is of course clear that the Corona pandemic and the reactionary restrictions that were implemented by the rulers with the state of emergency during this period played a central role and still have repercussions today. Especially the issue of social isolation and curfews is something that hit students particularly hard, since they usually have very cramped living conditions in small rooms in the dormitory or in shared apartments. There was also a survey among the students about the reasons for the load. The typical stresses that occur again and again for students play a relevant role in this.

The question of stress caused by exams, the fear of bad grades or too difficult or extensive learning content are problems that every student knows. For some, this means enormous pressure that cannot be overcome on its own. In the universities one encounters the same Problem as in the schools. The logic of utiliziting. Those who want to do certain jobs, which are usually a bit better, should learn as much content as possible and be able to cope on their own. If you can't keep up because you have some problems, you're out of luck and don't get any support. It is not about universities helping people to learn relevant medical and technical knowledge that is useful in performing important work for the society. Rather, the point is that people should show that they can function as working machines and thus prove themselves as qualified forces for the labor market.

However, those students who have a working class background are particularly affected by the burdens of studying. Thus, in addition to the things listed so far, the survey on the reasons for the burden also reveals points such as the multiple burden of studying and working at the same time, financial worries or the multiple burden of studying and family. All points that play a role especially for those with a proletarian class background. The current economic crisis with its price increases also exacerbates the whole thing. And of course, the typical normal stresses of studying are stressful for everyone, but for someone who has no support from his family and has to shoulder his studies alone by working at the same time, learning for exams is quite a bit more difficult than for someone from a petty bourgeois background who gets his studies financed by his parents and can fully concentrate on them.

Depression and mental illness are on the rise, and although the causes are visible, nothing is changing in a better way. The bourgeois education system at the universities makes many young people from the people sick in that way. But being sick is a privilege that not everyone can afford. In order to function somehow and to create the study many see no other possibility except to stuff themselves with any medication. But the causes are visible and could be changed. Not by the rulers, because they will not change anything. A single student too, because alone does nobody have the possibility to change his situation. This drives many into resignation and depression. But the students, united in struggle, can change their situation through fight together for improvements in their living and studying conditions