Warnings That Cash Worries Are Taking Their Toll on our Health
A Leeds charity has issued a warning over the effects money worries are having on people’s health.
StepChange says 60 per cent of people that come to them for help are suffering from anxiety, depression or panic attacks.
Their spokesman Edward Ware is urging people to talk about the issue before it gets out of control:
“They sometimes wait a year between first worrying about their debt problems and getting any advice.
“So as well as the financial situation getting worse, that stress and anxiety can really build up, and it’s only when eviction letters and court letters start hitting the doormat that they reach out for help.”
The charity is warning that a lack of help and protection for these people is placing a heavy burden on our health services. It estimates that debt-related mental and physical health problems cost the UK £979 million.
Last year, it says nearly 60 percent of the 315,000 people it advised sought medical advice for debt-related illnesses.
Full time carer Wayne got in around £20,000 worth of debt and was made redundant four times over the space of 15 years.
“I was okay while I was working, I could pay for everything,” he says.
“But once I was made redundant, I couldn’t pay and couldn’t find a job. It just mounted up.
- “I suffered with depression. I just didn’t want to be around anymore. It was very difficult and took me years to be able to talk about it. Without money you can’t eat. I was trying to live on £10 a week.”*
Wayne eventually filed for bankruptcy, but he says he didn’t receive any support from banks or the government.
“The bank said I couldn’t apply for a bank account for six years,” he says.
“So I’m even more trouble at the moment. Banks were terrible, they didn’t want to know.
“I’m a full time carer now for my wife and I’m working a lot of hours and below minimum wage. But the government don’t class that as a job, and because I’m here I can’t go out to work for a proper wage.”
Research by Step Change reveals how poor treatment by creditors can impact on people’s health and often drives them take on even more credit to pay back existing debts.
Today’s findings come as the charity renews its call for a new statutory scheme to deliver better protection for people struggling with debt.
“One of the problems that we see is creditors putting pressure on people, like when the credit card companies and banks resort to aggressive collections like going straight to court action or getting the bailiffs involved,” says Edward.
“That puts additional stress on people, and those people are even more likely to suffer from medical problems.”