Money and Mental Health [ii] OVERSTRETCHED, OVERDRAWN, UNDERSERVED

Following on from - Money and Mental Health [i] Impact of Mass Unemployment Events (MUEs)

I have been familiar with the relationship between mental health and finance since student days in the late 1970s. Debt was and remains a profound and common problem. This can exacerbate existing mental health problems or it be the trigger - the straw that breaks the camel's back. From the report:

One in four people with a mental health problem is also in problem debt, and half of people in financial difficulties have a mental health problem (p. 13).

Finance still has this impact whether it is a lack of basic financial skills (literacy), life chances and opportunity or attributed to bad luck. Speaking of 'luck': I have frequently felt angry and frustrated with government policy. It is common sense and statistically inevitable that within the population there will be people who are vulnerable to addiction of many sorts. Why make it easier for those who are vulnerable to potentially loose everything? Not only that but money impacts all those in vulnerable groups, not just people in work. When we talk of health inequality what is the biggest factor? I've come across instances of elderly people receiving scam mail and not just the 'odd' post. While within Hodges' model below I have family as a resource, sadly this can also be part of a problem.

'Productivity' looms large in the report and draws a rueful smile here. In the NHS productivity and its increase is a constant requirement. In the general economy UK productivity is low and seemingly stuck. Successive governments have failed and now with Brexit productivity is still on life-support.

In the report 'financial fragility' is a very useful construct (as with circumstantial, rather than careless overspending). The public sector is also highlighted in this regard:

Forecasts suggest that 5.4 million public sector workers, one in six of the UK workforce, will be worse off in 2020 than they were in 2010 (p.16).

Before you view the report itself and the small conceptual sampling in Hodges' model, the report refers to the hidden epidemic that this report seeks to highlight and represent. This government and successive, nationally and globally need to get to grips - somehow - with the hidden economy - parts of which are blatantly obvious in the subterfuge around tax avoidance. This is another relationship that operates upon us all - employed, unemployed, young and aged - and which Hodges' model can also help illuminate.


Evans, K., Holkar, M., Murray, N. (2017) OVERSTRETCHED,OVERDRAWN, UNDERSERVED: financial difficulty and mental health at work, The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, May 2017.

What follows is drawn from the report above - with a couple of additions:

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group - population

[May THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY]  (including nursing) MENTAL HEALTH hidden epidemic ... over two thirds (67%) of employees who are struggling financially report at least one sign of poor mental health that could affect their ability to function at work loss of sleep, poor concentration, reduced motivation, preoccupation Increased risk taking (impact - occupation...?) Guilt/shame Anxiety Low self-esteem Anger Frustration Fear Low mood Self-harm Suicidal ideation Insomnia Panic attacks Depression, Lethargy/apathy Substance misuse [... starts here!]

PRODUCTIVITY Physical effects of anxiety, stress, alcohol, smoking (increase, relapse), other substance misuse physical fragility (lack of resilience) Nearly half (45%) of all working days lost to ill health were a result of stress in 2015/16 – adding up to 11.7 million days across the economy. work access to:   "on-site exercise facilities, healthy  food and rest spaces" hidden morbidity

Influence of individual mental health on colleagues, team morale and cohesiveness fear of bailiffs - seen by others at my door pressure on relationships conflict at work family breakdown shame, guilt, stigma social support, friends, family, colleagues

WORK THE ECONOMY "Money and Mental Health will set out the case for employers to provide practical support to employees experiencing financial difficulty, and how this could boost the mental health, wellbeing and resilience of their workforce." "financial fragility" Creditor action poor performance, punctuality, reliability disciplinary action OCCUPATION HEALTH services - counselling / advice Individual's awareness of Rights the hidden economy

Thanks and Acknowledgement to The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute