Mental Health & Money

Jake K. Newell
Dec 2, 2019
7 min read

Financial worries have an impact on a number of people in the UK in the 21st Century. This trend is also experienced all over the world in both developed and developing countries. Generally, mental health and money problems are often intricately linked. I want to try and open up the discussion on this relationship as it can literally make or break people. There is research from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) shows that in England alone, over 1.5 million people are experiencing both problem debt and mental health problems. Whilst this research only covers England, it can easily be transplanted into other jurisdictions/locations. The relationship between mental health and money problems is somewhat cyclical, as outlined by the graphic below:

In this particular blog, I intend to focus in particular on the following, twofold overlap (after which, I'll talk about my experiences):

People who have money worries, who can then suffer from mental health problems as a result.
Having a mental health problems may put an individual at greater financial risk.

Money On Mental Health

This is a large area for concern. Clearly, financial difficulties are a common cause of stress for those with mental health issues and those without such issues. This is further compounded when the economy is in recession and many companies are struggling, resulting in mass redundancies. This can also be problematic for people who are self-employed. Furthermore, the societal stigma around debt can often mean people struggle to ask for help, which results in them becoming isolated. The result sees people "burying their heads in the sand", in the hope that the problems will just disappear. This is just one reason why we, as a society, need to shift our perspective and drastically change the way we view debt. For many people, these issues arise through no fault of their own: examples to support this line of thinking are found amongst those with long-term illnesses.

It has also been proven that financial difficulties drastically reduce the recovery rates for common mental health conditions. For example, people who suffer from depression and also have 'problem debts' are just over 4x more likely to still have depression 18 months later, compared to people without financial difficulty.

Notably, but perhaps not too surprising, people in problem debt are three times as likely to have thought about suicide in the past year. I can't help but feel that this is partly due to the capitalist and materialistic world we live in: people want to show off what they have. However, this can have a huge impact on others who are not as well off. I'm particularly mindful of this coming up to the Christmas period. PLEASE do not put yourself into debt just for the sake of someone else and keeping up appearances. It is not worth it. This is another reason why as a society, we need to re-consider our approach to debt. I appreciate that suicide (and the factors surrounding it) is complex. Of course, there are usually a range of events or characteristics which increase one's likelihood of committing suicide. However, the link between the two is strong and ought to be given proper consideration. This goes back to a running theme of this blog and one of the fundamental reasons I started it: conversation on this topic is good. Do not suffer in silence and do not let things pile up. I completely understand that things can be scary, but they will only get worse: people can help you.

Mental Health On Money

There are difficulties which can arise from the converse scenario also.

To make life a little easier, I'm going to take the approach of the MMHPI, and split this into two sections:

Income based issues
Expenditure based issues

Income

There has been significant research into this area: people experiencing mental health problems are less likely to be in paid employment, and more likely to be in low-paid employment. This immediately causes concern: those who are vulnerable may have difficulties in making ends meet simply because of their line of work. This issue is further compounded when we consider that (again based on research, here) people with mental health problems are over-represented in industries which have: high turnovers and low pay. They are also generally part-time or temporary work industries. The job security element is also a factor to consider, which may have an adverse impact.

Secondly, many people with mental health issues will be reliant on benefits of some description whilst they are unable to work. The current condition of the Welfare State has meant that those within society suffering from such issues are either struggling to make ends meet due to a lack of funding being made available, or, being deemed 'fit to work' at a point where they are not. A note from the MMHPI indicates that a third of Housing Benefit claimants (35%) - and nearly half (47%) of adults aged 16-64 in receipt of some kind of out of work benefit - have a common mental disorder, such as depression or generalised anxiety disorder.

Expenditure

Whilst there are implications for an individual's income, there are also further consequences to mental health issues in terms of an individual's expenditure. I like to think that this blog has outlined that mental health problems shape how our minds work and how we behave, and can also have damaging effects on our emotions. As I have written before, some of the common symptoms of mental health problems include increased impulsivity and memory problems. Of course, these symptoms can make it more difficult for people to keep on top of financial management, or to get a good deal in complex markets. It is also important to note that spending patterns and the ability to make financial decisions change significantly during periods of poor mental health. As I have noted in my previous posts, which deal with anxiety and depression, the lack of clarity one can suffer during such periods can often venture into financial matters. The result of all of this is the increasing likelihood of financial difficulty as mistakes can be made, or certain factors are given a level of oversight and not acknowledged fully.

On top of this, there are also studies to indicate that many of those who have experienced mental health problems, have serious difficulties engaging with at least one common communication channel. When this is combined with the situation whereby someone is struggling to deal with essential services due to mental health issues, it is clear why they fall behind on their bills.

My Experiences

I'll be honest, my current situation is positive. Luckily, my career is lucrative and in demand. However, my positivity has not always been the case. I have had to work to get to where I am over the space of nearly a decade by studying. My experiences with mental health and money problems have been present at two points in my life. They would probably put me in the first category of the two streams discussed above, whereby money concerns placed a strain on my mental health at the time.

The first situation goes back to the times of being a university graduate following my undergraduate degree. At the time, I was fresh-faced to the world: I had very little sense of direction at the time. I think this is more common not just for university graduates, but for young people generally: the concern of not knowing where you're going or how you're going to make it in the world. This worry soon died down when I settled into a new role at my former law school and started to earn there. It gave me some time to also structure my future and draw up a timeline and some deadlines that I wished to meet. However, the time immediately before then was incredibly challenging, giving me sleepless nights and plenty of ammunition for my brain to start over-thinking

The second is much more recent. It relates to the time I completed the Bar exams. I had spent approximately two years prior to those exams working at my old law school to save up for the Bar. During those two years, I was actively involved in two paid research positions, whilst also being employed full-time in my actual job. My time off from my work was spent doing work experience ('mini pupillages') for the Bar. As you can quickly see, I didn't take any down time. I was also lucky enough to get a scholarship from one of the Inns of Court, which helped pay for the year of study. Without that scholarship, I would not have been able to do the Bar exams. It was THAT expensive. On a side note, I do think that this raises issues with access to the legal profession, but I won't dive into that here. From the above, I think it's safe to say upon reflection, I put everything I physically could into getting myself to the Bar. The 2/3 months between finishing my last assessment and receiving my results was pure agony. I don't say this lightly, but I'd go as far to say that this was the worst period of my life: I had absolutely no idea whether I had passed. The pressure of failing after putting such a large investment of time and money into your studies, terrified the living daylights out of me. It was pretty much a "do or die" situation: I didn't have the spare funds available for resits (a single resist would set you back approximately £500). I genuinely used up all of my savings and overdraft to pay for the Bar and if I had failed, I couldn't carry on my journey to practise the profession I had always wanted to. If that had happened, I'll be honest, I had no contingency plan of how to sort myself out. Luckily, I passed and got a contract with a law firm in London to appear on court cases for their clients. Thankfully, I was able to secure my position financially in time for my masters, which started just a few months after. I look back at this experience and have promised myself that I will always save responsibly to avoid those ancillary issues arising.

Before I sign off, and as usual for these types of posts where there is a wealth of information being put out to my readers, here are some fantastic links which I hope are of use:

Remember: you are a beautiful human being. You are loved. You matter. You have so much good that you can offer this world.

Until next time,

J x

Mental Health & Money

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