A feature on the Independent website today highlights the emotional cost of the recession.

The Samaritans are reporting a rise in the number of calls, mainly from people worried about money. One in ten calls are related to financial worries, with over half of these being from people worried about job security.

Drinking has also risen, with many people turning to the bottle to help forget their problems. A survey of those who had recently become unemployment or made redundant, one in ten admitted to drinking more to cope with stress.

Relationships are also under pressure due to the recession. Extra stress causes more arguments, and in some cases couples who have broken up and forced to continue living together because neither can afford
to move out.

It’s feared that the psychological stress is only beginning to show in people, and could continue to increase. It seems that it is fear and worry that is causing the most problems - people are most stressed whilst waiting for a decision, rather than when the announcement is made.

Read the feature here…

Instead of encouraging smokers to quit the habit and save money, the recession has meant many are continuing to smoke to help deal with stress, reports the BBC.

A survey of 877 smokers and ex-smokers by Ipsos Mori revealed that nearly a quarter of smokers had abandoned plans to try and kick the habit, and 28% said they had simply been too stressed to attempt it.

Around three quarters of those surveyed said they would smoke during times of stress as they found it comforting, and a quarter said they had been smoking more due to stress caused by the recession.

Despite the financial burden of smoking, many smokers had instead given up other items such as cutting back on clothes or food in order to fund their habit.

Jennifer Percival, tobacco policy advisor at the Royal College of Nursing, said:” We know that the earlier people quit, the better, so we need to make sure that those who are delaying quit plans are being offered effective options and support to help them to stop smoking successfully.”

Read more…

New figures show the that depression is costing £8.6 billion a year, reports The Independent.

Over the last decade the figure has risen by £3 billion. The figure does not include the impact on the NHS, just the cost on the economy caused by people taking time off work. Those who become unemployed due to mental illness are 70% less likely to ever go back to work.

The Mental Health Foundation is calling for better awareness and education about mental health issues, and more measures to help people prevent them, such as dealing with work related stress.

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation said: “Depression can be a debilitating illness, affecting a person’s ability to function.

“All people, whether or not they have experience of mental ill health, should be helped to protect themselves against the most common mental health disorders – depression and anxiety. Currently, only £4m of the £4.5bn of NHS adult mental health investment is spent on promoting good mental health – less than 0.1 per cent. Greater investment in promotion would be advantageous for both the economy and society.”

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Many soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder in silence, reports The Telegraph.

A ’stiff upper lip’ attitude may be preventing soldiers from admitting they have a problem, and talking about how they feel.

Professor Alexander McFarlane, professor of psychiatry at the University of Adelaide and head of the Australian Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health has claimed that British soldiers do not receive the same level of after care as American and Australian soldiers.

He said: “People who have been traumatised are in a peculiar position in a community.

“The very nature of what they have suffered silences them. People who have had these sort of experiences can’t understand what they have been through, so even if veterans do speak they are not heard. ”

Read more here…

In a world of rolling news and constant information updates, scientists fear that it is causing extra stress on the brain, reports The Times.

Two new studies have suggested that the constant flood of information may result in brains blocking the development of wisdom - traits such as empathy, tolerance, emotional stability and compassion, and we become ‘ethically numb’.

With the amount of information consumed increasing each year - the amount of time people spend on line went up by nearly a quarter from 2006 to 2007, it’s feared that the brain may reach saturation point, and begin to shut down.

Professor Dilip Jeste, the author of one of the studies said: “Psychosocially positive behaviours such as admiration and indignation are more work for the brain than basic emotions such as pain response.

“Constant bombardment by outside high-intensity stimuli is not likely be healthy. It may prevent people from having an opportunity to digest the information, match it with culturally resonant reactions and then execute well-considered behavioural responses.”

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Moving house more than three times can have a detrimental effect on children’s’ mental health, reports the Telegraph.

A new study has shown that moving house, and therefore losing contact with friends and being taken away from familiar surroundings, may cause the child to feel they’re being ignored, and can result in suicidal feelings.

The study monitored how many children had committed suicide over a period of 17 years, and found over half of those who took their own life had moved house more than three times.

Ping Qin, the lead author, wrote: “The breakdown of connections with peers, discontinuation of group activities, distress and worries related to the new environment are potentially psychologically distressing events for young children. Frequent exposures to these events can be stressful and confusing and may affect their psychosocial wellbeing, thus increasing their intention toward ending their life if they are unable to cope.

“Children may feel ignored and have no one to communicate with. A suicide attempt may, to some extent, express the need for more attention from their parents.”

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A new survey carried out by mental health charity Mind has found that nearly half of men are suffering from ‘recession blues’, reports the BBC.

In a survey of 2000 men, 40% said they feel low due to job and money worries. However, the survey also found that men are less willing to talk about their mental health problems, and less likely to seek help than women. 29% of men said they would talk about their problems with friends, as opposed to 53% of women.

Paul Farmer, chief executive at Mind, said: “The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation’s mental health, but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact.

“Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job he loses a large part of his identity putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy.”

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Research shows that children whose fathers suffer from mental health problems are more likely to suffer themselves, reports the BBC.

Reviewing previous research, the team from Oxford University said too much emphasis had been placed on mothers’ mental health rather than fathers, as mothers are considered to provide the most childcare. However, with shifting roles within the family, fathers often now have more of an impact on their child’s upbringing.

The children of parents who are depressed after the birth are more likely to experience emotional or behavioural problems. A child is also ten times more likely to develop bipolar disorder if their parents suffer from it.

It’s also thought that boys are affected more by their father’s mental health than girls, particularly if the father suffers from alcohol addiction.

Professor Paul Ramchandani, who led the team re-analysing the research said: “Fathers are more involved in child-rearing in countries including the UK than they used to be. In years gone by, if fathers were depressed and distant it may not have made much of an impact. We now need a more general understanding of what effects psychiatric problems in fathers can have on children.”

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an increasing strain on teachers is causing their mental health to suffer, reports The Times today.

the pressure of Ofsted inspections, exam targets and badly behaved pupils in putting teachers under extra stress. the National Union of Teachers have been looking into the issue for the past two years, and found that there is a higher suicide rate amongst teachers, and that many leave the profession due to stress.

The NUT is now appealing to the government to tackle the issue, and encourage the school inspection body Ofsted to pay more attention to the mental health of staff when assessing schools.

Helen Andrews from the NUT said: “Originally we had issues such as class sizes, now it has been joined by Sats tests, performance [assessment], Ofsted, and management bullying.

“Schools under constant alert of Ofsted inspections frequently create unacceptable levels of stress which are passed on to all staff, and which can be sufficient to tip a teacher into mental illness.”

Read more here…

A promotion at work may result in mental health problems according to new research, reports the BBC website.

Warwick University carried out a poll of 1000 workers who had been promoted in the last five years, and found that on average, each volunteer’s mental health had deteriorated by around 10%. The research is due to be presented next month at the Royal Economic Society’s conference.

The survey revealed that being given more responsibility at work could lead to anxiety and depression, which could eventually also lead to physical health problems. It also showed that there was less time to look after general health, with people visiting GPs 20% less than before their promotion.

Chris Boyce, who lead the research said: “Getting promoted at work is not as great as people think.
Our research finds that the mental health of managers typically deteriorates after a job promotion and in a way that goes beyond merely a short-term change.”

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A new poll shows that 77% find the world a more frightening place than 10 years ago, reports the BBC website.

The survey of 2000 people carried out by the Mental Health Foundation charity found that more than three quarters believe we live in a ‘culture of fear’. The report, entitled the Face of Fear, revealed that more than a third of those surveyed said they felt more worried an anxious than they used to.

The current economic climate is thought to be a factor, but not solely to blame. Other factors included the fear of constant surveillance through CCTV, knife crime, terrorism, as well as the ‘worst-case-scenario language’ used by politicians, businesses and public bodies.

Feelings of anxiety can contribute to the development of health problems, including heart disease, and the Mental Health Foundation caused for these increasing anxieties and fears to be addressed.

The Chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr Andrew McCulloch said: “A mental health promotion campaign that shows individuals how to look after their own mental health would be of immense public benefit, and help prevent common mental health problems like anxiety and depression.”

Read more about the survey…

As children continue to experience a rise in mental health problems, teachers are calling for more counsellors, reports the Guardian website.

Exam pressure, family breakdowns and pressures to achieve the media-formulated ‘perfect body’ are all contributing to a deterioration in children’s mental health, causing anger, low self-esteem, irritability and lack of concentration.

Research carried out by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers of over 700 school staff found that they were spending more time than ever helping children through emotional problems. 70% said they believe children face more pressure than they did ten years ago, with 80% attributing it to exam pressure, and three quarters blaming family break ups.

Whilst 73% of schools do have a counsellor, some believed they were over-stretched and unable to deal with the rising demand for them.

Read more of the survey findings here…

New research has shown a link between suffering from sleep problems and committing suicide, reports the Guardian website.

The study, carried out in American an Poland with over 5,000 volunteers, showed that those who suffered from sleep conditions like insomnia were more likely to develop depression, and possibly commit suicide. Those with one or more sleep disorders were 2.6 times more likely to take their own life.

The most at risk were those who woke up early in the morning and were unable to get back to sleep, followed by those who found it hard to get to sleep at night, and those who woke up during the night and were unable to get back to sleep also were more likely to think about attempting suicide.

Dr Marcin Wojnar who led the study said: “Identifying those at high risk of suicide is important for preventing it, and these findings indicate that insomnia may be a modifiable risk factor for suicide in the general population.”

Read more about the study…

New figures show that more women are suffering from mental health problems, reports The Independent.

The number of women being referred to a NHS psychiatrist is rising faster then men. In the last year the number of referrals rose 3.4%, with over 70% of that number being made up of women.

The figures, published by the NHS Information Centre, also showed that since the mid 90s there has been a rise of around 12% in the number of women who experience depression or anxiety, but no increase in the figures for men.

It’s believe the rise has been caused by women living longer, and having to juggle work and family responsibilities, which has become even more difficult due to the recession.

A survey carried out in 2003 by the charity Women at the Crossroads showed that money issues are a worry for many, particularly due to divorce, lower pay, and being expected to do more round the home.

Read more about women’s mental health here…

The recession has triggered symptoms of depression in those facing unemployment or money worries, so the government is to announce new plans for more counselling and ‘talking-therapy services’ reports the Guardian.

The plans include a new NHS Direct hotline where people can talk to trained therapists as well as more advice available in job centres and doctors surgeries.

There is a fear that those suffering from the credit crunch may suffer from long-term mental illness such as depression and anxiety and therefore struggle to find employment, causing more worry and stress.

Health secretary Alan Johnson said: “In the current economic downturn, the potential exists for more people to become anxious or depressed. If someone is feeling down after losing their job, the best solution is a new job and we are helping people find them wherever possible. But, in some cases, depression and anxiety can be a barrier to getting another job.”

Read more here…