Financial woes ‘raise mental health concerns’

The personal finance and debt management problems being faced by UK consumers in the wake of an expensive festive period are causing mental health problems for many thousands of people, it has been claimed.

Research carried out by Mind recently found that stress levels among UK consumers had increased since the new year for 40 per cent of people and the charity puts much of the blame for this change on the scale of debt management problems.

The study found that almost one in five people are felling less able to control their mental health because of their concerns about paying off the bills relating to the festive period.

“Christmas is an expensive time of year but it’s not just your wallet that could be hurt by excessive spending,” said Paul Farmer, Mind’s chief executive.

“Worries about finances and the prospect of not being able to afford the essentials like food, heating and electricity will only add to their distress.”

Meanwhile, accountancy firm Grant Thornton recently predicted that there will be an increase in the number of people entering insolvency in the UK during the early months of this year.