What’s the link between mental health and debt?

Gordon_the_Moron

I'm not voting on this one.

I have had severe depression at times, I have also technic1ally been 10s of thousand of £££ in debt. The two aren't linked though, I've never owed more money than I have saved and have only borrowed when I've been stoozing. To say I have had severe mental health problems and had severe debts is technically true but would distort the poll.

ikhnos0512

the-mango wrote: »

Wow, the results of this poll are really illuminating. There are some really obvious disparities. I didn't realise what a massive effect MH problems have on debt.

I think you're jumping to conclusions here. On the evidence presented by the poll results, you can't rule out the possibility that the cause-and-effect is the other way round -- that is, that debt problems have a massive effect on mental health.

simplydevine05

I have had debt issues in the past that were down to being young and reckless and then just struggling to get on top of things. It all started nine years ago and built to head when I had more going out than coming in seven years ago. At that point I owed over a years wage in unsecured debt and was being passed to collection agencies. In twelve months I will be completely debt free and I've worked really hard to get there. I have had bouts of depression on and off for 15+ years and I believe that is what caused my severe overspending-I was buying to make me "happy". Even now I can sometimes feel myself spending like crazy butI know how to rein it in.
To also add to the theory my mum has suffered with bipolar disorder most of her life. When I was a child she was very careful with money and had no debt. When I moved out she began to rack up debts at an alarming rate for several years. She then cleared it all off but only racked it up again. Two years ago she received several lots of inheritance after we lost three relatives in one year. She cleared her debts and her £35000 mortgage and has been on a permanent spending spree ever since. Four cruises, a brand new car, designer handmags and clothes every other week, eating out almost everyday. She's nearly blown the lot and while she has been happy when spending, she will soon be back on benefits and depressed again. Money makes her a different person, glutinous and selfish. She told the family she couldn't afford Christmas presents last year and she then bought a carribean cruise in march and another one is booked next month. I think me seeing her do all these crazy things has taught me some valuable lessons and now if I can't afford it I simply don't buy it. I have three credit cards and I am not tempted to spend recklessly at all.
In conclusion, I think there is an incredibly strong link between mental health issues and debt.

DKLS

The Royal college of psychiartrists released a review of all the papers recently with an interesting conclusion.

"
This report has considered the published evidence on the relationship between debt and mental health problems. Currently, there is no conclusive evidence of a strictly causal relationship. However, there is plausible evidence from longitudinal research studies that indebtedness is often subsequently followed by mental health problems, whilst cross-sectional surveys indicate that the greater the number of debts a person has, the higher their risk of also having a mental disorder.

Whilst it is important that new research is commissioned and undertaken to improve the evidence base, this is not a reason to delay action and intervention.

Critically, as people with debt and mental health problems can be ‘patients’, ‘advice clients’ and ‘bank customers’ at the same time, this action needs to be both informed by appropriate knowledge and skills, and also well co-ordinated across the relevant sectors."

the_farmer

My bro-in-law aged late 40's has mild mental health problem and is registered as a vulnerable adult. In the main he copes REALLY well and lives independently in his own flat. A few years ago he eventually came to my husband and me because he was in dreadful debt with the bank. When we looked at his statements he was some £2,750 in debt.

In going back over his finances it all started some months previously when a direct debit for a measly £22.50 to the Water Company failed due to insufficient funds. This triggered a letter from the manager of £25 plus an insufficient money fee, plus an interest fee, plus an unauthorised overdraft fee. This happened several or more years ago when bank managers were allowed to dole out as many letters as they liked and charge the customer for them. In essence they racked up my bro-in-laws charges to thousands with managers letters, unauthorised over-draft fees, interest etc etc knowing full well that ......
a) He was on limited funds
b) He had always previously managed his money correctly
c) He was a registered vulnerable adult with the bank
d) They had our contact details in the case of any banking problems with his account (this was a registered back-up plan with the bank).

The only way we could see for my bro-in-law to get out of this knot was to take out a loan in order to pay the bank charges off. We enquired about a loan for him from the same bank but they informed us that as an unsecured loan he would have to pay 35% ABOVE the base rate. My husband and I just paid his debt off and moved his account.

I was disgusted this could happen. The bank knew bro-in-law was a vulnerable adult ... they knew that as a family we had made provision to financially help him if he got in to a knot .... they knew the original debt was for a measly few quid .... and yet they continued to spiral him in to a debt they knew he could not get out of.

The blasted bank shattered bro-in-laws confidence to manage his finances independantly which was the biggest shame of all. There is a well known tendency for people with mental health problems to bury their heads in the sand when things go wrong .... that's no criticism .... it's the nature of the beast. There is a MASSIVE link imo with debt and mental health and I'm still left fuming at our experience.