Aim: The aim of the current study is to show the growing importance of the social-psychological phenomena of burn-out syndrome and mobbing (bullying) in occupational and psychosomatic medicine. Costs and benefits of psychotherapeutic treatment are presented. The high comorbidity of burn-out syndrome/mobbing and psychic disorders is documented. Risk factors promoting the development of burn-out syndrome and/or mobbing are outlined. Methods: The data for 36 patients with the diagnosis burn-out syndrome and/or mobbing who were treated in a psychosomatic hospital are evaluated by descriptive methods. The focus is on the aspects comorbidity, psychic health status at the end of the treatment, the need for further psychosomatic treatment and the days of temporary inability to work before therapy. Results: Summing up cost-benefit-analyses by other authors and our own data demonstrates that an integrative (occupational and psychosomatic) treatment of burn-out syndrome and/or mobbing is promising and worthwhile. Conclusions: It is suggested that the benefit of psychotherapeutic treatment of burn-out syndrome and mobbing will exceed the costs to the same extent as it does in the psychotherapeutic treatment of other psychic disorders.
