Mental health - Silent effects of recession

The dire repercussions of the worst recession in living memory may be causing serious mental health problems for people finding it impossible to make ends meet.

There is a real danger that this malaise can remain hidden until it is too late.

The risk, according to the country’s leading mental health hospital, St Patrick’s in Dublin, is that with most people finding it hard to survive, there will be little or no sympathy for anyone trying to cope with mental health problems because of the sheer weight of their financial difficulties.

While mental health matters are better understood today, there is a danger that society’s biases about this grave question will grow even deeper because of the recession. Research has found that six out of 10 people live with a mental illness for at least a year before getting help. In recessionary times people will find it even more difficult to come forward and admit they have a mental illness.

If such issues are swept under the carpet, as happened in the past, unreported psychiatric cases will have serious consequences for a system struggling to cope. People must accept that the onset of psychiatric illness is more likely as a result of the emotional stress on those who find themselves slipping deeper into debt and unable to meet their financial commitments.