Our resources are strained by recession, say mental health charities

The recession is having a negative impact on the mental wellbeing of people in the UK. The mental health charity Mind reported a 28% rise in the number of people phoning its helplines between October 2011 and April 2012, compared with the same period the previous year. It also reported that twice as many people are seeking advice on issues of personal finance and employment compared with 2008.

Since its launch more than 20 years ago, the Mind Infoline service has been dealing with a rise in the volume of inquiries via phone, letter, and email—in the year April 2011-12 it had more than 40 000 inquiries. The charity also reported that 40% of calls made to its helplines, open five days a week 9 am to 5 pm, are not answered because they cannot meet rising demand.

The 166 local branches of the Mind network provided support to 250 000 people