If there’s one thing we British do best, it’s worry. Shop and worry, worry and shop. In fact, it seems, even when we’re watching the pennies we still shop…it’s just we worry more about it. Yes, we’re worriers.
And as we worry away, our battle with the credit crunch continues. So much so that news released this week confirms our worst fears – our worries are now making us ill. Yes, counting sheep is failing to work it’s wonders and instead we lie away at night worrying about the same thing we worry about during the day – debt.
A survey taken recently by mental health charity Mind, confirmed 91% of people’s mental health has suffered whilst seeking a debt solution. And it seems this is finally a statistic policy makers are taking seriously; the government are now allocating £13 million to fund therapy sessions for us during the recession.
Despite the impressive number, for those of us who can do maths, I understand the average counselling session costs £45 per hour and that it’s normally recommended you take 10 sessions to genuinely benefit from this support. Based on the above figures, £13million covers approx 26,000 people in the UK who need counselling. A very good cause of course, but what about the other 1.2 million unemployed people who might also need this service…how much would be needed to offer them all counselling? Over £615 million! Even if people only had 2 sessions each, that would still only service 130,000 people. And then we would have to ask, would just 2 sessions really help, or would that then be wasted money? Our wasted money.
So…finally, is £13million really a benefit to those in debt? I guess it is if you manage to get it before the pot runs dry….first come first served? It’ll be like the queues outside Next the night before the 6am sale! Get there too late and they’ll be nothing left. Isn’t that wonderful….now you have something new to worry about….that you won’t be worried enough to qualify for the counselling before someone else does!
I know depression is something to be taken seriously, but on a lighter note, my mum always said a cup of tea and a biscuit was the cure for a sad heart and mind…£13 million….that’s an awful lot of teabags and rich tea biccies.
