Welsh Labour AMs for Mid and West Wales JOYCE WATSON and ALUN DAVIES want to find out your experiences of debt related illness, so they can raise the results in the Assembly.
They are both supporting mental health charity Mind Cymru during Mind Week 2008. Its new report 'In the red: debt and mental health' shows the shocking truth of how lives can be torn apart by problem debt when people are at their most vulnerable.
The AMs are calling for people across Mid and West Wales to come forward with their stories if problem debt has affected their mental health. The findings will be handled in strictest confidence, collated and then raised in the Assembly.
JOYCE WATSON AM said:
" Mind’s findings are of great concern. We need to hear from people across Mid and West Wales to find out your experiences. People suffering from mental distress are three times more likely to be in debt. As a quarter of us will experience a mental health problem this affects us all."
ALUN DAVIES AM said:
“Mental health problems can lead to debt problems, while debt problems can lead to mental health problems. It’s a vicious cycle and we need this information to help to break it.”
The Mind Week report includes a survey of over 1,800 people. Of those with problem debt (924 respondents), 91% said that debt had worsened their mental health. It also highlights that people with mental health problems are almost 3 times more likely to be in debt often as they are living on a low income or can't work - due to difficulties getting a job because of stigma or due to ill health.
Mind found that of those with problem debt:
- 71% ran out of money every week or most weeks
- 87% rely on credit to pay for food and everyday costs
- 83% are harassed by creditors when unwell
- 56% had gone without food due to debt
- 51% had gone without heating
- 92% reported not being able to socialise
- Over 50% were living on a weekly household income of less than £200 - what the Government defines as 'living on the poverty line'.
- The poorest face the highest cost - low income and poor credit ratings mean people may only be able to borrow from private or doorstep lenders who charge extortionate interest rates, some as high as 400%, contributing to their spiral of debt
- People with bipolar disorder, which can cause people to spend extravagantly during a manic phase, or schizophrenia, are 4 times more likely to be in debt than the rest of society.
- Fewer than 1 in 3 people with problem debt informed the organisation to which they owed money of mental health problems because they did not think that they would be understood (63%) or believed (47%). 83% of those who did tell creditors continued to be harassed about debt repayments. In one case, a woman was called at 15 minute intervals for 13 hours.
- 34% of people with problem debt did not seek advice for their debt problems, often because they did not know where to turn.
Please send your stories to joyce.watson@wales.gov.uk or alun.davies@wales.gov.uk or to either of them at the National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff Bay CF99 1NA.
16th May 2008
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