The number of people treated for depression and anxiety disorders among workers in childcare and educational facilities has nearly doubled in the past five years.

Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea analyzed the National Health Insurance Service's data titled "Current Status of Depression and Anxiety Disorders among Workers in Childcare Facilities and Educational Institutions such as Kindergartens, Nursery Schools, Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, and High Schools," and released its results.

According to the analysis, the number of depression treatments per 1,000 workers increased by about 1.8 times, from 84.8 in 2018 to 153.1 in 2022, and the number of anxiety disorder treatments increased by 1.6 times, from 66.6 to 104.9.

By type of organization, depression cases per 1,000 workers increased 1.7 times from 55.7 cases in 2018 to 93.6 cases in 2022 for kindergarten workers, 1.7 times (from 93.4 to 158.4 cases for high school workers), 1.7 times (from 109.6 to 213.2 cases) for elementary school workers, and 1.9 times (from 55.9 to 104.1 cases) for nursery school workers.

Regarding anxiety disorders per 1,000 workers, kindergartens increased 1.5 times from 48.4 in 2018 to 73.8 in 2022, elementary schools increased 1.7 times from 82.4 to 137.2, and childcare centers increased 1.7 times from 67.1 to 114.

Middle schools increased 1.4 times from 73.7 in 2018 to 105.6 in 2022, and high schools increased 1.5 times from 53.8 to 82.2.

“We are worried that the successive suicides by teachers responsible for children's education may be due to mental illness caused by malicious complaints and the collapse of teachers’ authority," Rep. Shin said. "The government must analyze the causes of mental health hazards and take measures to promote teachers' right to teach and children's right to learn."