October 10th saw the celebration of World Mental Health Day across the globe, and it presented a fantastic opportunity to encourage honest and open discussions around mental health – which is especially important for those who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings.
Although awareness days such as World Mental Health Day aid in raising awareness and spreading the word of how to find and ask for help, suicide sadly remains a significant issue for many. As we move into the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, people’s mental health might be impacted negatively due to the significant financial difficulties they are experiencing. In fact, 40% of people with a mental health issue report that as their financial situation declines so does their mental health as a direct result, and this figure could potentially increase as our current cost of living crisis continues.
Therefore, we may find that those in the financial sectors are in a position where being trained in suicide prevention will be a key skill. This may seem intimidating or daunting for the financial sectors, but it’s how people respond to someone’s warning signs that could mean the difference between a life lost and a life saved. Training around mental health and suicide in the financial sectors can help minimise the impact of financial difficulties on individuals’ mental health. This training would allow for more awareness of the signs that someone’s in distress or at risk of suicide and support them in feeling more confident in addressing concerns.
Financial Difficulty and Suicide Rates
Unfortunately, there appears to be a correlation between financial difficulty and suicide rates. 44% of UK adults with mental health problems who fell behind on bills last year either considered or attempted to take their own life. The risk of people feeling suicidal increases with the level of debt; within the UK, 58% of those with debt over £30K had considered or attempted suicide.
Research has also found that heavy financial debt is more likely to cause suicidal feelings in men. Last year, statistics showed that women appear to carry less debt than their male counterparts, with men carrying on average 4.3% more debt than women. Although financial debt can be an attribute to both male and female suicides, this research indicates that men are at a higher risk of suicidal feelings due to financial difficulty than women. Another factor that also makes men more at risk is that they are more likely to seek help later than women for their debt and financial difficulties, which goes part way to explaining the higher suicide rate in men.
As mentioned, with the drastic increase in the cost of living in recent months, we could find a lot more people in times of financial struggle. As we have seen, financial worries can impact mental health causing anxiety, low mood and stress as people are forced to make difficult decisions about what they can afford. With costs rising faster than wages and the weekly shop and energy bills now taking up a larger proportion of people’s income, feelings of stress and shame around money could have a profound impact on mental health. So, increasing awareness and the training of staff in recognising and responding to the signs that someone may be feeling suicidal is vital and could in fact save lives.
How the Financial Sectors Can Help
We should all do our part to raise awareness for topics such as suicide prevention and embracing events such as World Mental Health Day will help with spreading knowledge and positivity. However, as the connection between financial difficulty and suicide looks to become more apparent in light of the cost of living crisis, the financial sectors could be the key to breaking these associated feelings of shame and embarrassment linked with financial difficulty and poor mental health.
Those in the financial sectors who deal directly with people in financial difficulty could be in a position to provide support if they were trained in the right area, such as suicide prevention. They are ideally placed to recognise when someone might be experiencing a difficult or trying time due to finances; in the last year, one in four frontline debt collection staff spoke to at least one customer they seriously believed might take their own life. This is deeply saddening to hear, not just for the suffering customer, but also for those in the financial sectors that may be under skilled and unconfident to give guidance and advice to those who need it most.
Therefore, it’s essential that these sectors are trained to know how to respond sensitively and support a customer in distress. People are often intimidated or nervous by the thought of asking someone if they’re considering suicide – this is normal; upskilling people to feel confident in responding could make a big difference to those suffering. By increasing their knowledge of suicide warning signs, the financial sectors could help in reducing feelings of isolation and helplessness, potentially lowering suicide rates. At MHFA Wales, our courses aim to support a variety of sectors in feeling more confident and better equipped in offering guidance and advice to their own employees, customers and clients. We cover warning signs of mental illness, how to respond to someone displaying these symptoms, being aware of client confidentiality surrounding suicide, and caring for yourself whilst supporting a potentially suicidal person. If you can recognise the signs of a potentially suicidal individual and broach the subject with confidence, you could make a significant difference to an individual’s wellbeing.
As we’ve already discussed, this type of training and awareness is especially important in relation to the link between financial difficulty and suicide; people are often reluctant to seek help or speak to someone about their financial issues as financial problems can be deeply rooted in feelings of shame and inadequacy. Falling behind on payments is often seen as a personal failure by the individual rather than a common symptom of changing circumstances and low financial resilience. The positive impact this type of training could have not only in the financial sectors, but throughout all sectors, will help to ensure that these negative emotions of isolation and depression can be shared with someone with the skills to help, so the burden of financial struggles doesn’t go as far as suicidal feelings. This could be significant in improving the lives of many and go a long way in alleviating poor mental health and even save a life.
To find out more about MHFA, the courses and training we provide, or to book a course through one of our licensed instructors, visit our website and be part of the change we all want to see in improving awareness.
