She can pinpoint the exact date when her emotions burst.
It was a Sunday evening in February 2024 during a concert by Barbara Moleko. The songs unlocked suppressed feelings, causing Eluise Malling to start crying.
»I cried and cried. I couldn’t stop«, she recalls.
»When Monday morning came, I was still crying, so I had to call in sick«, says Eluise Malling.
She felt physically unwell, had slept poorly, had aching bones, a pounding heart, and struggled to concentrate.
»I was just trying to be a good mother, but as soon as my daughter was out the door, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even unscrew the cap of a bottle«, says Eluise Malling about the time a year and a half ago.
Her doctor diagnosed her with a stress reaction, which led to a longer sick leave lasting six months. Eluise had worked hard as a team leader in a government agency but also faced personal challenges, including a divorce.
»I was definitely worried about when things would get better, what mental state I would be in afterward, and whether I would become ’myself’ again«, says Eluise Malling.
A personalized process
About a month after her sick leave, she read a story in a newsletter from her pension fund about the fund’s offer of a so-called +Forløb (+Program, ed.) for members affected by stress or serious illness.
This marked the beginning of Eluise Malling’s recovery. We’ll return to that.
Member Director Lene Mortensen from P+, the Pension Fund for Academics, explains that around 200 members annually receive an offer of a personalized program to overcome issues like stress, anxiety, or depression.
»Eluise’s story is far from unique«, she says, continuing:
»We’ve seen a significant increase in members affected by stress, anxiety, and depression, often younger women in their 30s who have up to 40 years left in the workforce«, she says.
In just five years, the number of academics who have lost the ability to work due to stress or serious illness has increased by 66 percent, according to the pension fund’s data. In 2020, 700 members received P+ disability pension. This year, that number has grown to over 1,100 members.
»We have an interest in reducing the number of members who have to leave the workforce and then receive disability pension«, says Lene Mortensen.
Mandatory pension savings consist of two main parts: a savings portion, which is paid out during retirement, and insurance against loss of work ability. P+ has seen the latter increase.
In 2021, pension funds spent 8.2 billion kroner on disability pensions, according to data from Statistics Denmark and Forsikring & Pension. Just three years later, in 2024, the bill had risen to 10 billion. Disability pension costs resulted in a typical employee losing 390,000 kroner in pension savings in 2021. In 2024, it was 450,000 kroner in lost savings. Calculations show that in 10 years, the erosion of a typical pension savings will be 700,000 kroner.
Demands for the spring
When negotiations for new collective agreements for 800,000 employees in municipalities, regions, and the state begin after New Year, chief negotiator and chairman Tomas Kepler of Akademikerne (AC) will make stress a central theme. He represents half a million academics such as engineers, psychologists, economists, and physiotherapists.
»We are in the midst of a stress epidemic. It affects not only those who suffer from stress but also their colleagues and society economically«, Tomas Kepler said earlier this week to Politiken.
Akademikerne (AC) have proposed the idea of creating stress funds similar to maternity funds. The idea is to collect a small amount per working hour, which is put into the funds that can be used to reduce pension companies’ stress-related expenses.
Back to Eluise Malling, who through the +Program was connected with Merete.
»I quickly felt that Merete was on my side and thinking about my interests. It wasn’t an employer or someone from the job center who had an opinion on what I should do. Merete listened to me«, says Eluise Malling.
Eluise Malling spoke with Merete regularly over the summer, and by autumn, she began working again, initially for short periods and from November 2024 full-time. In the summer of 2025, however, she decided to take a career break.
»It was clear to me that I needed to leave the workplace that had a significant role in my stress breakdown«, says Eluise Malling.
She has found another government job and is an example that there is a way back after stress, but it is far from guaranteed.
»The earlier we intervene with our +Forløb, the greater the chance that it won’t end in a disability pension«, says Lene Mortensen from P+.
It is a much more self-aware Eluise Malling who started her new job in the fall of 2025.
»I was brutally honest during the interview and didn’t hide that I had been down with stress and needed to take care of myself«, she says.
