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Mental Health Awareness Week

This week I would like to bring together something different for the blog. The Mental Health Foundation are this week launching an awareness campaign for Mental Health, in particular sleep disorders. In order to support the campaign we have asked them to write a guest blog for us to talk about the effects mental health and debt have on people.

I would like to thank all of those involved in the campaign and a special thank you to Chief Executive, Dr Andrew McCulloch’s for putting the blog together.

“The recession brings with it an increased risk of mental health problems for many individuals. The fear, or reality, of unemployment, insecure housing and high levels of debt are all associated with higher levels of mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety and depression.

As a nation, we already have huge amounts of personal debt; whether this is through mortgages, rent arrears, student loans, falling behind on phone, gas or electricity bills, or the use of credit cards and bank loans. The reduction in incomes and the increase in unemployment that have resulted from the recession will inevitably add to both the number of people in debt and the total amount of debt.

People can experience mental health problems whether they are high earners or low earners, or whether they are in debt or not, however there is a strong relationship between debt and mental illness; mental-ill health can lead to debt and debt can lead to mental-ill health, creating a vicious cycle. A quarter of people with a mental disorder are in debt, and a half of people in debt have a mental disorder.

We know that the outcomes of recessions – rising debt, unemployment and insecure housing – are associated with poorer mental health in individuals as well as in communities, and with poorer mental health comes poorer physical health. Prolonged experiences of stress, anxiety and depression can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disease. So what can be done in this ‘time of austerity’ to reduce the impact of debt on the nation’s mental health?

The Foresight report on Mental Capital and Wellbeing (Government Office for Science, 2008) made a number of suggestions for breaking the cycle between debt and mental illness, particularly ensuring that routine mental health assessments should look at finance and debt, debt counselling should be made more accessible, and awareness needs to be raised amongst professionals as to where to refer patients with debt problems.

On an individual level, there are a number of ways that you can begin to manage the impact of debt on your mental health and the impact of your mental health on debt. Try seeking debt advice from trusted authorities they will try to help you to take action and prevent your debt from getting any worse. It could also be beneficial to make an appointment with your GP to discuss potential treatments for any mental health problems that you are experiencing, such as stress, anxiety or depression.

Every year, the Mental Health Foundation hosts Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), where we publicise important factors that impact on the mental wellbeing of the nation. This years’ MHAW runs from 23rd – 30th May and you find out more at: www.mentalhealth.org.uk”

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Written by davemac on May 25th, 2011

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