The response to the Left Party’s parliamentary question shows: there are no reliable figures on how long children and adolescents in Germany must wait for a therapy place. The question was linked to ongoing criticism of the so-called GKV Contribution Stabilization Act, which came into force at the end of July.
The law provides for savings in the billions for practices, clinics, pharmacies, and the pharmaceutical industry. Insured persons must also expect higher co-payments and cuts. In psychotherapy, associations fear fewer therapy places and longer waiting times – the government wants to protect especially children and adolescents from this.
At the same time, the government points out that waiting time alone is only of limited significance in describing the care situation. The need for psychotherapeutic support among young people remains high: at the federally funded online service “krisenchat”, the number of consultations rose from 3,672 in 2020 to 21,499 in 2025. The number of hospital treatments for intentional self-harm among people up to 21 years old also increased in several federal states – in Bavaria by more than 50 percent between 2020 and 2024, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania by around 169 percent, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Source: www.spiegel.de
