Are you nuts? I don’t know which farytale fantasy part of Germany you live in but Germany is basically in the stone age of psychology and mental health care, it’s almost non existent. Therapist, psychologists and psychiatrists are almost never covered by insurance and cost an arm and a leg to pay out of pocket. If (and that’s a big “If”) you’re lucky enough to get a referal from you doctor you’ll struggle to find a clinic that’s isn’t a 2 hour drive away and will still have to endure a waiting period of up to 6 months for a single appointment. And that’s if you manage to convince your doctor to actually take your mental health complains seriously in the first place.

You essentially have to have a full blown mental breakdown with police involvement to stop your doctor from laughing iit off when you mention that you don’t feel mentally well.

On top of that, if you begin a mental health care journey you’re insurance payment magically increases because depression is usually associated with an unhealthier lifestyle and higher risks of self harm (don’t forget, insurance companies are still buisnesses).

And on top of that, don’t ever and I mean EVER mention you mental health problems at work kr you’ll be first on the line when the company decides to push people out.

Come to think of it, in about 20 years I haven’t heard a single individual talk about their mental state - stranger or friend. It’s not like people hide it well, you can tell when somebody is depressed or stressed out. But people never talk about it, no matter how bad it is.

In the US on the other hand, the short time I spend there, 7 of the 10 people I actually knew by name told me they’re in therapy and taking meds for their mental problems. They literaly couldn’t shut up about it. Hell, even the University had a mental health counselor that was actually used by a lot of students.

The most common pills you find in a German household are Ibuprofen and Lacteeze (because we sure love our cheese) but never Prozac or Lexapro.

So no, the topic isn’t “extremly normal” and people don’t “openly talk” about it. There are no overwhelming number of people in therapy because therapist barely exist in Germany. And the amount it cost you will likely be the root cause for your depression anyway.

Sure, maybe if you’re from a wealthy family with excellent private insurance and access to private doctors and therapists in a gated community without any care for your future job security then maybe it’s a different experience. But for the average Jane/Joe, Germany is a depressive hellscape.

What is all that unnecessary attack for? Have you even ever been to Germany? My therapy got paid with normal insurance. Just gave the therapist the card to scan and that was it. I had 2 appointments every week for years. That was at least my experience as a now 21 year old German.

So you would say America is better in this regard?

Because it gives people a completely wrong impression. If you got your therapy covered by insurance and have availability that’s very good, but it’s a very rare fringe case.

I’d say maybe in general the German population is less affected by mental health issues (statistics also show that), but if you are in actual need of help the accessibility of counceling and care in Germany is abysmal.

The general consensus is that medical care in Germany is subpar, especially if you don’t have private insurance. There aren’t enough qualified doctors especially in rural areas. If there are, they are often overworked themselves. For most walk-in clinics doctors don’t even take their eyes of the computer screen, yet alone give you a proper diagnosis.

I’m not expecting Dr. House level of detective work, but for the most part, doctors have their mind already made up about your condition and balantly ignore any secondary symptoms until they become severe enough to be a problem of their own.

Since mental health can’t be reliably “tested” for, like you would with an MRI or X-Ray, usually, unless you bring a lot of money to the table it is just not even worth looking into by general practitioners to get a referal.