Tuesday September 11th, 2007
The UK has a huge problem with mental health and debt; I’ve blogged before (see ‘Should we stop people with mental health issues borrowing money?’) on my concerns over this under-addressed subject.
It’s something I’m ever more conscious of; it’s one of the reasons in the video attached to the Debt Problems article I talk about ‘catastrophisation’ which is a US term for turning everything into a ‘worst case scenario’. Debt is solvable; there is always a route, yet often it can seem impossible to somebody with mental health issues.
I’ve been trying to think of a way to help for a long time; so I’m rather pleased that this week I’ve commissioned a guide to Mental Health and debt - both for the person with the health issues and for their family/carer(s). It’s going to be written by two experts in the subject; we’ll be working with the mental health charity Mind, and I’ll be adding my input on the debt side.
Hopefully we’ll have the guide ready to download free from the site in Dec/January. The guide will show how to deal with debt when mental health or mental capacity is an issue, and also provide advice for the families and carers of those with issues.
This is such an important subject, yet sadly one that not many are interested in. I once broached a TV programme on it but the reply from all the execs I spoke to was “It’d only be interesting to those with problems; most people will switch off”. Hopefully this guide will help redress the balance and give some help.
