Debt and mental health: Covid has increased the pressure but help is available
Sarah Douglas has struggled with debt and poor mental health for decades, and says the Covid crisis has made matters worse. “The pandemic has aggravated existing issues for people like me,” says the 51-year-old from Bristol. “It’s massively stressful dealing with the uncertainty but for someone prone to mental health problems, it’s particularly bad.”
Nine years ago, Douglas was diagnosed with autism, and she also has ADHD. “I didn’t understand why I was struggling with money so much before then,” she says “I wasn’t good at budgeting, a low income didn’t give me much to live on, and stress makes this worse.”
Douglas, who has been on long-term sick leave from work since December 2020, racked up £22,000 worth of credit card debt over 10 years. “I would spend and become depressed. It was a vicious circle,” she says.
Sadly, Douglas is far from being
