Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
World Mental Health Day: What to Do If You Need Help
Annie
24th Sep 2024
Sponsored by BetterHelp
It’s World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2024, and finances have a huge impact on our mental health, causing stress and anxiety for many people. So, we’ve put together a guide to help anyone who feels like they are struggling to find the best resources.
Crisis Helplines
First and foremost, if you or someone you know is at immediate risk of harming themselves or someone else, call 999 or attend A&E.
If there is no immediate crisis but you want to talk to someone about your struggles and find out what you can do to tackle them, there are helplines which can provide support.
The Samaritans run a 24/7 helpline every day of the week. Call 116 123 or text SHOUT to 85258.
Mind Charity runs four different helplines, including a general support line (0300 102 1234), an infoline (0300 123 3393), welfare benefits line (0300 222 5782) and legal (0300 466 6463). They all run Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm except Bank Holidays.
There are also charities which provide support for specific issues that contribute to mental health struggles, such as being a survivor of domestic abuse or sexual assault, or for children.
The National Suicide Prevention Helpline runs 6pm to midnight every day on 0800 689 5652.
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) has a website of resources, a helpline from 5pm to midnight daily on 0800 58 58 58 and a web chat and WhatsApp chat.
Childline supports children with suicidal thoughts or in tough domestic situations on 0800 1111.
Refuge operates the National Domestic Abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247 Monday to Friday 10am – 10pm.
Respect runs the Mens Abuse Helpline for male victims of domestic abuse, on 0808 8010 3027.
Galop operates the LGBT+ Helpline for LGBT+ victims of domestic abuse on 0800 999 5438.
Seek Debt Support
Debt and financial anxiety has a huge impact on mental health, and almost everyone has faced financial stress at some point. With the cost of living crisis ongoing, more people are finding their month-to-month concerns about covering bills mean they experience ongoing stress about their finances, living circumstances with rent and mortgages rises, and the risk of job cuts.
If you’re facing debt and it is overwhelming you, don’t panic. There are lots of things you can do to get out of debt and stop it from having a negative impact on your mental health. We have a full article on tackling debt for your mental health here.
The first thing to do is speak to your creditors. Talk to your credit card company to see if you can arrange at least an interest freeze to help you repay your debt. Speak with your bank or any other creditors about a payment plan or temporary payment holiday.
If it seems too much to handle yourself, there are two charities which can help.
National Debtline and Stepchange are both free debt charities which can provide advice and help you with the administrative paperwork to help you get out of debt.
Speak to a Therapist
Speak to your GP to find out about local mental health support services as a first port of call. However, the waiting lists for these services can be very long, so it’s important to have an alternative in the interim to prevent your mental health declining.
Therapists don’t have to be in-person, or expensive. MoneyMagpie likes BetterHelp, an online therapy service which matches you to a therapist for between £180-£280/month – and you can talk to them on video calls, over text, phone, or email, at a time that suits you. If you don’t get on with your matched therapist you can change at any time, too.
MoneyMagpie readers get 20% off their first month when they sign up to BetterHelp via this link.
There are some charities which may offer group therapy, which can benefit some people. For example, Man Up runs regular online group therapy sessions for men struggling with mental health problems, which are relaxed and informal sessions where you don’t even need to turn your camera on if you want to stay anonymous.
How to Help Someone Else
You might be reading this article not for yourself, but to help someone else you know is having trouble with depression or anxiety. World Mental Health Day is a good opportunity to bring it up in conversation, too.
Here are some things you can do to help:
- Listen. Sometimes, people just want to talk without being offered solutions.
- Provide practical support. If they could do with help fetching the kids from school, doing their groceries, or cleaning their house, offer practical help.
- Show them this article. They may need help finding resources like the ones listed on this page.
- Accept that they might not want to talk to you. Acknowledge that you understand they don’t want to share with you, but make sure they know you are there for them if they need you.
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