Men are failing to cope with worries about the recession and debt problems according to the mental health charity, Mind.
The survey showed that almost 40 per cent of men admit to feeling low because of pressure from work, regarding job security and money troubles, playing on their minds.
Their results also suggested that women were more likely to seek support and debt advice from a qualified professional to help get through the current situation, despite more men struggling to cope with the impact of the recession.
Mind estimate that currently approximately 2.7m men in England have a mental health problem such as anxiety, depression or stress.
Male respondents to the charity’s survey seemed to be more reluctant to talk about situations when they were feeling stressed or low – with less than a third (29%) saying they would talk to friends or family, compared to over half (53%) of women.
Worryingly 5% of men said that their debt problems and the worries about the recession had caused them to experience suicidal thoughts, against just 2% of women.
The recession could make the situation even worse, with recent figures showing that one in seven men develop depression within six months of losing their jobs.
Chief Executive at Mind, Paul Farmer, 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.
“The problem is that too many men wrongly believe that admitting mental distress makes them weak and this kind of self stigma can cost lives.”
Debt advice organisations are working harder than ever to combat stress associated with debt for overstretched individuals, and have seen the number of men seeking help to get out of debt increase.
Reputable companies offering free debt advice – such as Hamilton Locke, The Debt People and Chiltern – provide specific debt help programmes which are designed to eliminate debt problems.
These firms offer free debt advice initially and can also recommend a number of professional debt solutions like debt management plans, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and Trust Deeds amongst others if necessary.
A trained adviser will go through your finances to identify the cause of your debt problems, and will identify a number of possible ways to increase the amount of income you receive and how you can reduce your outgoings to increase your disposable income. This is the realistic amount you have available each month to contribute towards your unsecured debt repayments once priority payments (mortgage, council tax, utility bills, food etc) have been taken away.
If a professional debt solution is deemed the best option for you, your finances will be made simpler and more manageable as your unsecured repayments will be gathered into one monthly payment, which will be rescheduled over a longer period of time – thus making repayments more affordable. Your disposable income will become the amount that you pay each month and this will be distributed to all of your creditors on your behalf.
For further information on debt management plans, IVAs, Trust Deeds and other solutions, or for immediate debt and IVA advice, please call the number at the top of this page.
Our debt advice is free and our debt help programmes are tailored to your specific needs.