On the wall in the living room hangs a watercolor painting of an Italian port city. Sabrina M. painted it. Painting helps her distract herself. The young woman from Wittenau is currently unable to work due to a serious illness. With 30 years. She is not an isolated case. Last year, 200 more new applications were approved at the Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund in Berlin than in the previous year. One reason for this could also be the increase in mental disorders.
“The worst thing is being so dependent on outside help,” says Sabrina M. She still lives at home with her mother, who cares for her. She wouldn’t be able to do it alone. As a teenager, after a long ordeal, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which also attacked her hip bones. In 2014, two artificial hip joints were therefore used.
Shortly after her 29th birthday in January 2021, Sabrina M. felt exhausted, she had constant headaches. She went to her family doctor, who initially did not find out the cause. A few weeks later, a specialist told her the devastating diagnosis: she had Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a precursor to leukemia.
Her condition deteriorated rapidly by the summer. “I had a high fever and severe pneumonia,” she reports. The administrative worker was in the hospital for almost four months at a time, received chemotherapy and had to undergo stem cell therapy. When she was released, she weighed only 44 kilos, 20 less than before.
When Sabrina M. climbs the six steps from the ground floor to her apartment on the mezzanine floor, she has to take a break in between. When she wants to take a shower, her mother has to help her get in and out of the bathtub. There is a wheelchair in the hallway that she can use for longer journeys.
The illness also affects her and her mother emotionally. Because 20 years ago, Sabrina’s father died of the same diagnosis. She and her mother are still dealing with the loss. “I immediately thought: I don’t want to lose my child too,” says Barbara M., 66 years old. She is already retired, which is the only reason she can look after her daughter full-time. Only a few weeks ago they applied for a nursing degree for Sabrina, they are still waiting for the decision.
Sabrina M. is currently unable to return to her job as a clerk in a Berlin authority. That’s why she recently submitted another application for a disability pension to the German pension insurance scheme in order to be able to take a temporary break from the job. When and if it can ever be fully available to the labor market again is still questionable at the moment.
Increase in pensions is also due to mental illnesses
Across Germany, 174,000 people share a similar fate. They received their first pension last year due to their disability. According to a statistical survey by the German pension insurance, the year before there were 14,000 fewer people. Regionally in Berlin, 7,700 pension applications due to disability were approved in 2020, and 7,500 in 2019.
The authority attributes the increase to mental illnesses, among other things. “Society is more open about it and people are no longer afraid to get medical support if they are mentally unwell,” explains Katja Braubach, spokeswoman for the German Pension Insurance Association. For comparison: While in 1996 20.1 percent of approved new applications were due to mental disorders, in 2020 41.5 percent of new applications were recorded for the same reason.
Volkmar Otto
Sabrina M. likes to paint. Preferably with watercolors.
The decision to take early retirement was not easy for her, says Sabrina M. But it was unavoidable. “Even before I was diagnosed, I often dropped out because of my rheumatism and hip problems, and that’s why my colleagues took offense,” she explains. Of course she could understand that they would not have wanted to work more because of her. Because of her absenteeism, she was transferred to another department. Sabrina M. would like more acceptance for people like her who are unable to work. “Many think she’s young and should just pull herself together.”
Restrictions even at school
Even when she was at school, Sabrina M. was troubled by her limitations, she had to deal with disappointments early on. Because of her rheumatic illness, physical exertion was much more difficult for her than for other children. “My teacher just called me lazy. It hurt me a lot,” she says.
Despite everything, she has not lost her positive attitude to life. Although she is marked by her illnesses, she likes to laugh a lot and is happy about small improvements. For example, about the fact that her dark hair, which fell out after chemotherapy, is gradually growing back. “It feels really good again,” says Sabrina M. and runs her right hand over her head. The long-haired wig she bought is now somewhere in the corner.
Watercolor paints in different colors are in a box next to the sofa in the living room. Painting has become an important part of Sabrina M.’s life. But that’s still difficult for her because she can’t hold the brush properly: Her hands and feet tingle all the time, a side effect of the chemo. Her everyday life has changed since the illness, she not only misses her job and her colleagues, but also her friends. Because of her weak immune system, she had to greatly reduce her social contacts.
Rico Gersten, who works as a social counselor at the Social Association Germany State Association Berlin-Brandenburg, knows of cases similar to that of Sabrina M. “The proportion of young people who are unable to work is increasing. We also feel that in our consultations,” he says. In most cases, it is mental illnesses such as depression and burnout and chronic illnesses such as fatigue syndrome that are also related to the pandemic.
The situation is extremely stressful for those affected, and in our society one defines oneself almost exclusively through work. “Many people who are unable to work go through a process of loneliness and powerlessness because they no longer feel needed,” says the consultant. In the face of young patients, many asked: How can this happen to a 30-year-old who eats well and goes to the gym?
Sabrina M. has often asked herself the same thing. “I never expected that I would get the same disease as my father,” she says. But giving up or whining is not an option for them. She believes that one day she will lead an independent and self-reliant life again. And that belief gives her strength.