Debt and mental health

Following the credit crunch it is increasingly likely that more and more people will get into debt. A survey by the mental-health charity MIND has looked into the links between mental-health problems and debt and found that 91% of people said that the experience of being in debebt had worsened their mental health. The report In the Red: debt and mental health found that people with mental-health problems were almost three times more likely to be in debt. People with bipolar disorder, which can cause extravagant spending patterns, were four times more likely to get into debt. Fewer than 1 in 3 people with problem debt informed their creditors of their mental-health problems and 83% of those who did were still harassed by them.

You can view a non-printable copy of In the Red: debt and mental health at

http://www.mind.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B8ACA0C3-C16C-45DE-886D-84F0745A1C9D/0/Mw08reportWeb.pdf