A loneliness pandemic — the silent effect of debt
By: Helen Webb
Tags: Pandemic, Loneliness, Lonely, Suicide, Debt

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

This week is Loneliness Awareness Week. It’s really sad to think that around our nation right now there are estimated to be nine million people feeling lonely. The effects of loneliness are much more than just physical isolation: loneliness can also have a significant impact on our physical and mental health.

Here at Christians Against Poverty (CAP) we see loneliness amongst our clients.

Most of us have the option to go out for a drink with friends, to join groups and clubs enjoying other people’s company with no fear or concern about how much these events may cost us to partake in. As long as they are within our budget, social activities are affordable for most people. But for those who are living with debt, the story is different: juggling their finances, waiting for, and absolutely desperate for, their next payday or social security payment. Many have very few choices in these situations, being unable to afford to go out or meet up with friends. The consequences of this are so significant; the emotional toll of debt can mean that they become detached from their friends and family, feeling isolated, lonely and unsupported.

CAP client Ian had this experience:

‘When my dad died, I really struggled. I started drinking and my family turned against me. I don’t really have any friends where I live so I felt totally alone. One of my only friends moved away and another committed suicide. I’ve been there myself. I nearly took my own life, but you’ve got to keep going.

Debt, with everything else, made my life really stressful. I was worried about losing my flat. I wasn’t eating because I was skint, which meant I lost loads of weight. I’m diabetic, so only eating one meal a day wasn’t good. I knew it would probably kill me but I didn’t have another option. I had no one to turn to, no family, no friends, nothing.

At one point things got so bad I was begging for money. It didn’t help that I was put on Universal Credit; no one told me I needed to apply for Council Tax reduction separately and I was hit with a huge bill.

I had no one to help me. I struggle to read and write, so all the paperwork was really confusing. Because I struggle with reading and writing it was really hard to find help. A lot of organisations want you to do it yourself, but I just couldn’t.

CAP came along just in time. I would be dead if I hadn’t found out about them through the food bank when I did. I was having my dinner and I overheard someone talking about debt. I told them I was really struggling and they put me in touch with CAP. It’s funny how things work out.’

There are three main reasons why debt and loneliness go hand in hand:

1. Before seeking debt help, 44% of CAP clients are often experiencing fear, 42% guilt, 58% embarrassment and 49% shame because of their financial situation. Half of our clients waited between one and two years before seeking debt help. During this time they were either trying to resolve the debt situation themselves (62%), thought no one could help them (one in three), or did not know where to go to seek debt help (45%).

2. When surveyed, one in three CAP clients said that they felt as though they had not had a meaningful conversation in over a week. Most of us need to chat through a problem from time to time, and when we do, we seek out our trusted family and friends. Some clients were unable to afford to go out to meet friends and family or call them. They had no one to turn to and they were experiencing extreme levels of isolation — 58% of CAP clients felt that they had no one to turn to when they had a problem, and half of CAP clients felt lonely.

3. At CAP, just over half (55%) of our clients are single adults meaning that they are often living alone. One of the clients in our latest client report entitled Our Story, said ‘I didn’t want to go out, I couldn’t speak to anyone on the phone. It was a horrendous time’.

So as well as dealing with debt, our clients are often living alone and feeling lonely and isolated. Last year 28% of our clients considered or attempted suicide as a way out of debt before finally contacting CAP for help.

The challenge for us all is to seek out those people who need debt help, to talk to those whom we suspect are struggling and under strain, and to get them signposted to free debt advice. When that pressure is relieved, and our Debt Advisors put an affordable budget in place, we find that clients feel well enough to emerge from their homes and re-engage with their loved ones again.

Dealing with debt can be a complex situation but we can work with people and help them to show them that there is hope and a future, alleviating loneliness. Let’s work together to identify those people who need debt help and to signpost them to it.

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