Around 2.5 million people with mental health problems struggling with debt during the pandemic thought about ending it all.
Those with a mental illness were three times more likely than the wider population to have cash woes, says a report out today.
And they were more than twice as likely to have relied on borrowing for everyday items such as food or heating.
The shocking findings are in a report from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, founded and chaired by consumer champion Martin Lewis.
He said: “It’s a national tragedy a disproportionate number of those struggling with their mental health missed out on the support they need to avoid reaching crisis point.”
The survey found 44 per cent of adults with mental health problems, equating to 2.5 million, who got in debt last year considered or attempted suicide.
The charity wants GPs, A&Es and mental health services to routinely ask those with mental health problems about finances.
The findings were reported after commissioning a survey of more than 5,000 people with lived experience of a mental health problem and 1,000 people without mental health issues.
The State We're In report also said that one in four people with mental health problems have no savings that they could use for an urgent or emergency expense, a higher proportion than those without mental health problems, at 18%.
Nearly half (46%) of people with a mental health problem agreed with the statement, "I can't afford to regularly save money", compared with a third (33%) of those without mental health issues.
People with mental health problems were more than twice as likely as those without to have relied on credit or borrowing to cover everyday spending such as on food or heating (26% compared with 11%).
The report can be accessed here.
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