Mind: Debt can exacerbate mental health problems
May 24, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Loans
Consumers who suffer from mental health problems can find their health deteriorates when they get into debt and receive letters from financial institutions, the national association for mental health, Mind, has said.
A spokesperson for the organisation said that people in debt are not just receiving one letter a week, but a barrage of phone calls throughout the day from different people, which can feel “quite intense” for some people.
Recent research by Mind found that the biggest reasons for people getting into problem debt were mental health problems (66 per cent), living on a low income (66 per cent) and difficulties in managing money (58 per cent).
Mind said that it has been working with the Financial Services Authority to change the way in which lenders treat their customers who have mental health problems and fall into debt.
“We are calling on banks to keep to… a code of practice, about responding appropriately to things like missed payments and treating people who are worried and have anxiety and depression appropriately,” added the spokesperson.
