Mental health disorders have become the second most common cause of temporary disability leave for workers in Spain [2].
This trend signals a growing crisis in workplace wellness, as psychological distress increasingly prevents employees from performing their duties and impacts national productivity.
Recent data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) covering 2018 to 2024 highlights the severity of the issue [1]. Depression is now the most frequent cause of temporary disability leave lasting more than 15 days [2]. On average, a sick leave for depression lasts 167.9 days [1].
The scale of the problem is reflected in the numbers. There are more than 627,000 sick leaves related to mental health [3]. While reports on the growth rate vary, some data suggests these leaves increased by 60% between 2017 and 2024 [4], while other reports indicate they multiplied by five between 2018 and 2024 [3].
Several systemic factors contribute to this rise. Infobae said the combination of job precariousness, workplace pressure, and a lack of preventive measures has driven the increase in medical leaves for mental health problems [5]. These issues are particularly pronounced among Generation Z, with those aged 25 to 35 showing rates significantly higher than other age groups [6].
The situation in Spain mirrors a global trend. The World Health Organization estimates that mental disorders result in the loss of 12 billion workdays annually worldwide [1].
Despite the volume of cases, there is a significant gap in legal recognition. Social Security has recognized only 203 psychiatric cases as occupational accidents, despite the hundreds of thousands of total mental health leaves [3].
“Mental health disorders... are now the second cause of temporary disability leave in Spain.”
The disparity between the 627,000 mental health leaves and the 203 recognized occupational accidents suggests a systemic failure to acknowledge workplace psychological hazards as formal injuries. This gap prevents many workers from accessing the specific protections and benefits associated with workplace accidents, shifting the burden of mental health recovery onto the general healthcare system rather than the employers responsible for the environment.
