Young adults pay price for mental illness

People who have mental-health problems in early adulthood are likely to be much less well-off when they get to 30. Researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand studied 950 people born in Christchurch. At the ages of 21 and 25 the participants were asked whether they suffered from symptoms of mental illness such as depression, anxiety, phobias and drug and alcohol misuse; the participants were also asked about their employment, income and educational achievements. Those yound adults who had experienced mental-health problems were significantly less likely to be in paid employment, were more likely to be working part time, were more likely to be receiving welfare and were earning less money than those who had had good mental health. Those people who had had four or more episodes of illness between 18 and 25 were 4X more likely to be welfare-dependent than those who had had no mental-health problems, on average they worked 6 hours fewer per week and earned NZ$166 less.

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