The international Confederation

“… and don’t neglect your soul!” – strategies for the promotion of psychological health

On May 14th and 15th the first “Wörishofener Wörkshop” took place in the “Kulturhaus Zum Gugger” in Bad Wörishofen in the Allgau.

A healthy soul – with Kneipp!  

„A healthy soul can and must be promoted. There is a massive increase in psychological problems, stress and illnesses. This must not be ignored”, says Marion Caspers Merk, President of the associations Kneipp Worldwide and Kneipp-Bund e.V.

On May 14th and May 15th the first „Wörishofener Wörkshop” took place. About fifty health experts had accepted the invitation of Kneipp Worldwide to discuss the topic “strategies for the promotion of a healthy soul”. The background of the event is the increasing urgency of the problem: in recent times, one piece of bad news has followed the next. Psychological stress, problems and illnesses are increasing massively. According to the WHO, about 450 Million people live with a psychological disorder worldwide; in the European Union as many as 83 Million are affected. In Germany, about every third person is affected by a psychological disorder during their lifetime.

President Caspers-Merk comments: „The numbers of ill people and the disastrous financial effect is only one aspect of the problem. But we must not forget that personal suffering is also involved for each single person – for the affected patients as well as for their relatives.” Various possible reasons are suggested for these increasing numbers. Among others, changing living and working conditions, new communication technologies and permanent availability are blamed.  

How can we handle the increasing psychological challenges more efficiently? How can we enhance our emotional health? How can we handle existing disorders? These were some of the questions that were discussed at the “Wörishofener Wörkshop”. A quotation by Sebastian Kneipp shows that his health concept is absolutely modern still today: “We have to balance work and life style and our nervous resources.”  

The Kneipp organizations are determined to increase their future commitment in this field. President Caspers-Merk: “So far, a comprehensive concept for the promotion of emotional health is missing in Germany. We will campaign for putting this topic on the political agenda. At the same time we will extend the range of our own offers. One of the first projects will be the new Burnout-Seminar of the Sebastian Kneipp Academy in Berlin.”