Background: There are close reciprocal relationships
between psychological problems
and the workplace. Especially work-related
anxiety is of particular significance. Such disorders
require specific treatment which can
be provided in inpatient units for psychosomatic
rehabilitation.
In the present study, patients assigned
specific work-oriented psychosomatic treatment
for a variety of individual clinical reasons
during inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation
therapy were compared with respect
to general symptoms and specific work-related
anxiety at the start and end of therapy
with patients not requiring such treatment.
Method: 128 unselected patients from a psychosomatic
inpatient unit were investigated
with the self-anamnestic questionnaires
Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) and Job-Anxiety-
Scale (JAS) at the beginning and the end
of their treatment. The effect of therapy on
workplace-related anxiety during the 6-week
inpatient period was studied.
Results: 76.6 % of patients were given workrelated
treatment, i.e. 39.8 % individual sociotherapeutic
therapy on work-related questions,
31.3 % additional work-related group
therapy, and 5.5 % group therapy only. Patients
with and without such special treatments
did not differ in symptoms of general
psychological distress but only in the level of
work-related anxiety. In the course of inpatient
treatment there was not only a significant
improvement in general symptoms but
also in work-related anxiety and in fitness for
work.
Conclusion: Work-related mental problems
play an important role in patients requiring
psychosomatic rehabilitation. They can be
differentiated from general psychological
problems. They need specific treatment. In
the course of inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation
a significant improvement is observed
not only in general symptoms but also
in work-related mental problems and fitness
for work.
