Personal finance concerns affecting mental health of over a fifth of Scots

Over a fifth of Scottish adults (23 per cent) say that their personal or household finances are amongst the most likely factors, from a list of common causes of stress and anxiety, to have a negative impact on their mental health, according to a new survey of over 2,000 British adults by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 and ComRes.

Personal or family members’ health issues (24 per cent), an individual’s or family members’ job (20 per cent), UK or global current events (16 per cent), and relationships with family (15 per cent) complete the top five.

An additional seven per cent of those surveyed said the finances of other family members who don’t live with them negatively impacting on their mental health.

Tim Cooper, Chair of R3 in Scotland and a partner at HBJ Gateley in Edinburgh, said: “Whatever else is going on in the world, things much closer to home are most likely to affect people’s mental health. No matter how old you are, where you live, or what you do, personal finance concerns – even concerns about others’ finances – have a significant impact on your wellbeing.

“Much more needs to be done to ensure that people are informed about what their options are when they encounter financial problems so that they can deal with them without unnecessary stress. Improving financial education and financial capability could have a huge, positive impact on the country’s mental health.”

Elsewhere in R3’s latest Personal Debt Snapshot, 36 per cent of those surveyed in Scotland were worried to some degree about their current level of debt, compared to 38 per cent in the autumn.

For those in the region with debt worries, credit card debt (53 per cent) was far and away the primary concern, followed by rent arrears (27 per cent), their overdraft (20 per cent) and mortgage repayments (17 per cent).

Mr Cooper continues: “The personal finance landscape is relatively benign at the moment, with real wages still growing and interest rates remaining low, but personal finance concerns are still clearly looming large for many people across Scotland, and with inflation set to rise throughout 2017, these pressures are likely to increase.

“The insolvency regime is there to help people with very serious financial problems resolve their debts and the associated stress, and then start again financially.

“It’s essential for anyone who thinks their financial situation is getting out of hand to proactively seek from a qualified source as early as they can, so that they can gain access to the biggest range of ways in which they can put things right again.”