🪪 Severe disability in depression
In brief
Mental illnesses such as chronic or recurrent depression can also justify a degree of disability (GdB). What matters is not the diagnosis as such but how severely the illness actually limits your participation in everyday and working life. From a GdB of 50 you count as severely disabled and can apply for a severe disability card.
Step by step
- Submit an application to the VersorgungsamtThe application for determination of the GdB is submitted to the responsible authority (called, depending on the federal state, Versorgungsamt, Amt für Soziale Angelegenheiten or Landesamt) informally or with the official form.
- Submit medical documentsEnclose meaningful findings from your GP, psychotherapist and, if applicable, hospital reports – the more specific the description of the everyday limitations, the easier it is to assess the GdB.
- Check the notice of decisionThe office assesses the GdB on the basis of the Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze (annex to the Versorgungsmedizin-Verordnung); for mental disorders, the limitation of the ability to experience and shape everyday life is decisive.
- File an objection if rejected or if the GdB is too lowWithin one month of notification you can file an objection and, if necessary, submit further documents.
- Inform your employer of the severe disability (if desired)Compensation for disadvantages such as protection against dismissal or additional leave takes effect in the employment relationship only once the employer knows about the severe disability.
Deadlines
- A GdB is not derived automatically from a diagnosis – without an application there is no determination, even in severe illness.
- The GdB values for mental disorders in the Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze are guideline values for the assessment, not automatic – each case is assessed individually, in particular on the basis of everyday limitations.
- Without notifying the employer of the severe disability, neither special protection against dismissal nor additional leave applies.
- With a GdB below 50 but at least 30, where the job is threatened or at risk, equivalent status (Gleichstellung) with severely disabled people can be applied for at the Agentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency).
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Assessment under the Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze
The basis of the GdB assessment is the Versorgungsmedizin-Verordnung (VersMedV) with its annex, the Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze. For the chapter "Nervous system and psyche", according to secondary sources reviewed, the rough orientation is: milder psychovegetative or mental disorders GdB 0–20; more disabling disorders with substantial limitation of the ability to experience and shape life GdB 30–40; from moderate to severe adjustment difficulties with greater limitation GdB 50–70. These ranges are guideline values, not a fixed table conferring a legal entitlement to a specific value, and were not cross-checked here against the official primary source in full text – if in doubt, consult the exact wording of the Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze or seek advice.
Severe disability and equivalent status
From a GdB of 50 a person counts as severely disabled (§ 2 para. 2 SGB IX) and can apply for a severe disability card. With a GdB of at least 30, equivalent status is possible on application to the Agentur für Arbeit if the job would otherwise be at risk (§ 2 para. 3 SGB IX).
Compensation for disadvantages
From GdB 50 there is, among other things, an entitlement to five working days of paid additional leave per calendar year (§ 208 SGB IX), a disability lump sum (Behinderten-Pauschbetrag) in tax law (§ 33b EStG) and special protection against dismissal: Dismissal by the employer requires the prior consent of the Integrationsamt (§§ 168 ff. SGB IX); without this consent the dismissal is invalid. Within the first six months of the employment relationship no consent is required (§ 173 SGB IX). These compensations apply only if the employer knows about the severe disability.
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