Mental illnesses and behavioral disorders were the most common cause of inpatient hospital treatment for young people in Germany in 2020. As a result, almost 18 percent of the 829,400 hospital patients between the ages of 15 and 24 were treated as inpatients, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Mental illnesses and behavioral disorders also include those caused by alcohol. These include the consequences of alcohol abuse and acute alcohol poisoning such as dependency or withdrawal syndromes. This was followed by pregnancy, childbirth and childbirth, injuries and poisoning as well as diseases of the digestive system.
According to the information, inpatient treatments for mental illnesses among 15 to 24-year-olds fell by 13 percent compared to the pre-corona year 2019. They fell just as much as the number of hospital treatments overall in 2020. These declining numbers are mainly due to the corona. The number of inpatient hospital treatments fell due to the high capacity utilization of the hospitals, stricter hygiene concepts and the keeping of beds free.
In the long term, however, the cases increased: In 2005, around 135,100 of the young people were treated in hospital because of mental illnesses, i.e. 12 percent. At that time, these were still the third most common reason for treatment, with pregnancy, childbirth and childbirth coming first.
