Having debt may not be a mental health illness, but mental health illnesses are significantly exacerbated by debt.

I was discharged from a mental health ward 3 weeks ago after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. My brother was murdered a year ago and I've been struggling with depression since.

I lose my job a few months ago and money has been tight in my household, to the point where I began to see myself as nothing buta financial anchor weighing down my partner.

Freeing her from having to manage my debts was the primary justification for my suicide attempt. My mental health illness (mixed anxiety and Depressive disorder) is not caused by debt, but the affective symptoms (in this case suicidal ideation) were.

Or to put it another way: the easy way out of debt allows people to rationalize an an otherwise irrational decision. (°)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/201...

    NatCen analysed detailed NHS data about adults’ mental health undertaken for the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. It found that 13% of people in problem debt – about 420,000 a year – think about suicide and 4% of them – more than 100,000 people – try to end their life.

Suicide attempts in people with debt are around 400x more likely than those without debts (it's around .01% in the UK yearly), which surely counteracts the idea that nobody is claiming that people in debt are more likely to be suicidal?

Having debt certainly isn't a mental illness, but we can't ignore the effect having debt has on people with mental illnesses.

Edit: sorry for any typos or grammatical errors, my medication causes difficulties typing and recognising errors

(°) Of course, it may actually be rational, since her financial security would be significantly improved by the removal of debt and the extra mouth to feed - but rationality does not necessarily imply correctness.

> the statement becomes absurdly false even though the logic remains identical: persons in debt are 8 times more likely to be suicidal

Why do you think this is absurd? How are you defining "suicidal"?

There's good reasons why reputable organisations involved in suicide prevention recognise financial difficulty as a risk factor (one of many) for suicide.

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=38469

> 156. Patients who died in the first week after leaving hospital were more likely than those who died later after discharge to have a diagnosis of personality disorder (15% v. 10%). Over half (52%) had experienced recent adverse life events, especially financial (25%) and family problems (23%).

https://www.hqip.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/8iQSvI.pd...

> Although under 20s and 20-24 year olds had many antecedents in common, there was a changing pattern,reflecting the stresses experienced at different ages. Academic pressures and bullying were more common before suicide in under 20s, while workplace, housing and financial problems occurred more often in 20-24 year olds

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care...

> Factors that should be recorded in an initial assessment of social circumstances include, but are not limited to: (i) family members, significant others or carers who can provide support; (ii) dependents; (iii) housing; (iv) personal or financial proble