New research by FH7Media has found that the cost-of-living crisis is making a crucial lifeline
unaffordable for people suffering with mental health.
Private counsellors in the UK generally charges anywhere from £40-£150+ per session of
counselling. Whilst 75% of people referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies
(IAPT) programme, developed to improve the delivery of psychological therapies for depression
and anxiety disorders within the NHS, should start treatment within six weeks of referral, and
95% should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.
According to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) some 60% of therapists are seeing clients cutting back on therapy sessions due to money worries and almost half (47%) of therapists report clients are cancelling or pausing sessions because they can no longer afford them.
According to a Mental Health Foundation survey, the UK’s leading charity for everyone’s mental
health, finances are having a negative effect on people’s ability to engage in some of the
activities known to help protect mental health and prevent problems from developing.
We spoke to mental health charity, Mind, to uncover the damage being caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
A survey carried out by Mind, last month, found almost seven in 10 people felt that going
through their benefits assessment made their mental health worse.
A spokesperson for Mind told us that the charity wants the Government to make sure people’s
benefits are matching their expenses, especially for important wellbeing and health costs such
as therapy sessions.
They added that the Government has already committed to cost-of-living payments to help
people and also promised to raise benefits in line with inflation from April, but said that is not
soon enough, as “people need support right now”.
We managed to sit down with Margaret (not her real name), 44, from Sunderland, who
experienced these issues first-hand. She had this to say about the importance of therapy for her
and how she is coping without it now:
FH7: Why is it that you are not seeing a therapist any more?
M: “Purely the cost: it was impossible for me to keep up the sessions with my therapist, whilst
trying to keep a roof over my house for my family. The cost of fuel for my car to get to a
therapist, and the sessions themselves. was leaving me too short of cash. I had to give them
up.”
FH7: How important was therapy to you?
M: “Therapy was a life support for me. It was a lifeline that made me feel like the way I was
feeling wasn’t unusual. It gave me the confidence to open up more as the sessions went on, but
I knew this couldn’t go on forever, due to the cost.”
FH7: How are you coping without the access to a therapist?
M: “Coping without access is very hard. It was my time to release how I was feeling, so all these
feelings have begun to bottle up again.
“I started to try free online apps as an alternative option, but it just isn’t the same.
“The waiting times are way too long as well, to see a therapist on the NHS, someone needing
urgent help could be waiting for months or even a year to speak to someone.”
FH7: Are you able to speak to friends and family around you?
M: “I am very lucky to have a very supportive family and friends who I can open up to; they
have helped me massively and have been like therapists to me.
“I don’t know what I could do without them."
It is vital that people receive the support that they need during the tough times we are facing, as of recent times, without this support people don't only struggle to pay their bills, but struggle to break a smile.
If you know of anyone that may be feeling the same way as Margaret is, please get in touch with them, offer your support or call helplines to help those in need to get the help they need.
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