Debt and Mental Health - How have your debts affected you?
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Hi
I am currently suffering MH due to bullying at workplace and signed off for stress anxiety and panic attack
Recently about 2 to 3 weeks afo I signed up online learning college to do some courses. Due to my ill health I am unable to continue or start the courses as I need to get my health back.Upon trying to cancel and stating the reason why the online college has refused outright to even look into the matter with compassion or empathy. Simply I got an email saying If I do not keep up with payments they will instruct debt collector / agents and threatened CCJ
Is there no duty of care am so shocked as the MD was so rude and nasty and came across very intimidating and bullyish. I signed up for Counselling CBT and Mental Health Awareness and find it so worrying they dont actually care about these issues only interested in the money making. Anyone got any advise please ?0 -
Emma1279 maybe try writing to them to explain and see if your gp or counsellor would write a supporting letter. I really believe debt and poor mental health are linked. Sometimes debt causes poor mental health and other times it the poor mental health that causes the debt.
My story is I hid debt from my husband. He was suffering from poor mental health and I didn't want to worry him so I tried to handle the finances myself. I didn't do a good job in that we were behind on everything and I even had pay day loans. He worked so hard but we had high living and travel costs and he felt that he was working and had nothing to show for it. He had low self esteem believing he wasn't doing enough to provide. I tried to buy nice food for him before getting stuff for me. If an unexpected bill came I'd hide it. Id treat us to a takeaway etc but it was borrowed money. I used to worry about the lights going off ( id sneak outside at night to check the meter!) and the car being towed. I'd already planned if I could hide it somewhere. I hid letters, unplugged the phone etc It was wrong but with the right intentions I suppose! I'm lucky I didn't suffer badly myself, it was a stressful time.
Things can change though. There is always hope.0 -
For me the two are inextricably linked. I have always had bad anxiety, and have hidden my MH ups and downs from my immediate family to protect them from it; without going into any detail they have quite enough to deal with.
Most of my debts were accrued during two very stressful phases in my life, one work-related, one physical health-related. The second ran on from the first, and both had a huge impact on my ability to cope with day-to-day things and think rationally; I was struggling with everything, and let problems and terrible decisions pile up, resulting in a ridiculous amount of unsecured debt (unfortunately I had impeccable credit at the time and stupidly high credit limits). The worse it got, the less able I was to cope with everything.
The guilt and shame for getting myself in this situation, and the resulting stress and anxiety still hit me in waves even though overall I have turned it around and am fighting my way out. On a good day I am positive and proactive, on a bad day the anxiety absolutely cripples me; I feel totally overwhelmed and isolated and struggle to think about anything except worst-case scenarios. It can be exhausting.Debt-free August 21, Mortgage-neutral April 240 -
I'm currently £6,500 in debt on credit cards and overdraft.
In 2015, I was debt free. I never had a credit card until I was 29 and the only reason I got it was to improve my credit rating because I had a £15 fee owed to 3mobile that I had no idea about for 3 years. I only discovered about this debt when I was applying for a loan to go back to University to do a Masters degree in Psychology as I had ambitions to become a Psychiatrist. I used MSE to get the right card for me to improve my credit rating and I was on track after a year until my mental health started to collapse. I ended up moving back to London and took a paycut in a new job which meant I used the credit card to fund myself to live (food, rent, travel) for a year. However, my mental health was still unstable and I started to spend more than I should when I was low or anxious. With the help of MSE again I managed to do a balance transfer to prevent me from charges once the 0% interest ended. Unfortunately, my mental health got even worse and I was spending recklessly during long durations of poor mental health. It has escalated ever since.
When I think back to 2015, I wonder what happened because I used to be extremely cautious and savvy with my finances. This is why I believe more support, research, and education should be encouraged for this area. Dare I say it, credit card companies are benefiting from the mentally ill.
I often wonder if mental health checks should be part of the application process for credit cards. When I was at one of my lowest points, I was able to apply for a 2nd and then a 3rd credit card once I reached my max amount and now find myself in a huge mess.0 -
Hey everyone! I’m a mess. Mental health issues literally all my life steaming from some pretty traumatic experiences. Looking into an Iva at the moment. I’m so disgusted with myself for getting in such a mess0
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@immoral_angeluk Do you imply that having a credit card can lead to debt? I have been thinking of getting a credit card. Now seeing your post in the thread makes me re-think. Its natural for one to spend a bit while having credit card. Please share more about your experiences of using a credit card.0
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charolettepope wrote: »@immoral_angeluk Do you imply that having a credit card can lead to debt? I have been thinking of getting a credit card. Now seeing your post in the thread makes me re-think. Its natural for one to spend a bit while having credit card. Please share more about your experiences of using a credit card.
Do not get one, one becomes two, two quickly becomes 3 and 4 then 5, before long you have numerous cards, and are several thousand pounds in debt.
Just read any of the post`s on this forum from people in debt, most of their debt is on credit cards, sometimes into the tens of thousands.
Why do you think credit cards are offered to people in the first place ?
Because they make the banks millions of pounds in interest and charges, they are good money spinners, because people being people, will overspend on them, the banks know this, so they plug them with all there might, take it from one who had over 50k on various cards at one point..........stay well clear !!I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter0 -
I must admit, finding this thread has amazed me. I have struggled with depression and anxiety for about 25 years and in that time I have also been a financial disaster. I can pretty much put all of my severe bouts of anxiety and depression down to money. Spending money gets me momentary relief, but then it accumulates and I get severely depressed again. It is as everyone says a vicious cycle. What really upsets me is the number of times I have got on top of it all and then over time let it turn into a monster. I am now doing what I do every time by using 0% credit cards to try and control and still using the old cards. I need help, but I have only just started looking. I am lucky in as much as I have a good income, but if anything happened to my job I would be in dire problems. That makes it worse as I then get totally anxious about losing my job and start making mistakes at work.0
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I must admit, finding this thread has amazed me. I have struggled with depression and anxiety for about 25 years and in that time I have also been a financial disaster. I can pretty much put all of my severe bouts of anxiety and depression down to money. Spending money gets me momentary relief, but then it accumulates and I get severely depressed again. It is as everyone says a vicious cycle. What really upsets me is the number of times I have got on top of it all and then over time let it turn into a monster. I am now doing what I do every time by using 0% credit cards to try and control and still using the old cards. I need help, but I have only just started looking. I am lucky in as much as I have a good income, but if anything happened to my job I would be in dire problems. That makes it worse as I then get totally anxious about losing my job and start making mistakes at work.
Hi,
You can always contact one of the free debt charities for help in tackling your debt.
The links are in my signature.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter0 -
My mental health (depression and ongoing anxiety) definitely contributed to my debt problems over the years: my mum fell quite ill seven years ago and her and my dad split up not long after. I was an impressionable graduate who had just got into a £20,000+ job and had fee-free overdrafts and credit cards thrown at me left, right and centre: needless to say I couldn't resist.
Fortunately I did just stick to the one credit card and got a few items on finance (iPad, car, iPhone). Looking back the debts were really manageable and minimal (about £4,500 minus the car) but I just used to blow my wages on clothes, video games: anything that would make me feel better. Before I knew it it was 3 days after I'd been paid and my money would be gone. It was utterly stupid and reckless.
Sertraline and CBT was a god send, I clawed my way out of my debt and haven't gotten into any since. I realised no amount of new clothing was worth the stress and material possessions didn't make me that happy anyway. If ever friends talk about getting credit cards or overdrafts I swear them off it. Colleagues have even spoken to me about having a credit card for housing emergencies only but my advice is just don't do it: been there once, never again.0
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