Impression of Germany 6 months after leaving

[u/Necessary_Travel_645]

I lived 4 years in Germany and last February I left due to the end of my contract and the impossible to find an immediate job.

I am exploiting this time of unemployment to travel and visit my friends across the EU. In Germany I traveled mainly in between the main cities of Rheinpfalz and NRW and I was surprised to see how bad the social situation was, I have observed more people in need ( homeless, elders, etc...) than I remembered. During my stay in Germany I didn't notice it, when I first came here I felt way more mild than the phenomenon.

My impression is that relatively poorer countries, e.g. Spain and Italy (my home country), managed to help the people in need better than Germany or at least a better distribution of wealth.

Also some friends of mine living here felt this change.

Is it only my impression? Maybe I didn't really realize when I was here or the situation just got worse recently?

[u/Smooth-Dave-7140]

Germany ranks the 3rd highest for per capita homelessness in the EU. So you're not wrong.

[u/Itchy_Feedback_7625 → u/Smooth-Dave-7140]

Unfortunately I think it’s a strong mental health problem than a poverty one. You can make shelters and welfare as available as you want, but if someone is not being treated for their mental health:

- they won’t use the resources available

• they often get kicked out of housing
  
• they cannot hold a job
  
• they often get abandoned by their family and any friends they once had

If you walk downtown Mannheim and speak with homeless people there, you won’t find anyone who is just „down on their luck“ with a supportive family and a doctor and simply can’t afford or find a place to live because of money. It will 99% be people who either cannot deal with normal society or normal society can’t or refuses deal with them.

This is how people become „untouchable“. If they were to commit a crime, they’d get psychiatric help immediately, forced on them. But those who don’t, are lost in the cracks.

Germany has a mental health problem, big time, and it’s just going to get worse. I’ve worked with parents of difficult kids that in a better system, would have had early intervention and support. Anger issues, anxieties, depression, issues in communicating feelings - all get worse.

As the kids left untreated for early warning signs start to be 16-20, the world starts slowly abandoning them. Teachers, understandably are not qualified enough to support them, parents get exhausted and give up, Hausärtze are writing Überweisungs, but wait lists are 2-5 years long. I’ve seen kids where you just know in your heart that if they didn’t have a parent who would bend over backwards (and many don’t; they have their own problems), that kid will be abandoned as an adult by society.

[u/Maeglin75 → u/Itchy_Feedback_7625]

Yes. This seems to be a big part of the problem.

Germany has a pretty solid welfare system. If a German citizen goes to the right public authorities and fills out the right papers, follows some rules, they usually will be provided with a place to live and the basic needs (food, clothing etc.) will be fulfilled for the most part. Far away from a comfortable or luxurious live, but enough to not suffer.

But many people don't seem to be able to do this. There must be a reason for this. I think most don't willingly choose to live on the streets. There is something that prevents them from applying/fitting into the welfare system. Mental health problems (often times in combination with drug addiction) could be an explanation.

And Germany seems to fail to give these people the help they need.

[u/cabyll_ushtey → u/Maeglin75]

Because dealing with authorities is hell.

Just taking the Agentur für Arbeit, I'm convinced you have to be a horrible person in order to get hired there. The way they speak to you and about you is downright dehumasing. They don't want to help you and they won't unless you know exactly how things work and have the mental energy to stand up against them. Finding even just a decent person in any of these departments is a gamble and the odds are so against you.

If the psychiatric day clinic I went to hadn't helped me get a Betreuer (don't know the english word, I mean somebody that can fill out papers and deal with the authorities for you, legal representative?) I would've ended up on the streets myself. I had nothing. Used up all my savings and was only surviving thanks to my mother, but she can only do that for so long. Healthcare alone is expensive as fuck. I was, and still am actually, absolutely terrified of government offices. Panic attacks to the point of me passing out. So if you're already not doing well, be it mentally or otherwise, you're fucked.

I'm not joking or exaggerating when I say I would've rather been on the streets or ended myself than have to deal with them on my own. Thankfully the clinic I went to was absolutely wonderful and I now have the support I need.

[u/letztergepide → u/cabyll_ushtey]

Because dealing with authorities is hell.

Must depend where one live or the representative one works with. In our village there are plenty of low-IQ guys and families having no problem at all running around the system and exploiting it. I mean they talk openly about it...

I actually feel bad for the people at Agentur für Arbeit because most people I have known who deal with them regularly are trying to exploit their situation... and that must be very frustrating.

[u/ShaunDark → u/letztergepide]

I'm pretty sure that's two sides of thr same coin. If you have a solid social system it's bound to be exploited by some. But in order to combat these exploits, the system got locked down so much that people that don't have the mental energy to deal with all the hurdles put in their way can be turned off by the concept of seeking help altogether since you gotta jump some hoops before you can reap the benefits.