A charity has highlighted the extent to which debt affects mental healthby revealing that last year it spoke to an average of 5,000 people a month who were suffering from financial problems coupled with either anxiety or depression.

StepChange, a debt charity, said that it uses an online counselling tool to determine which people contacting it might be suffering from anxiety or depression. Of those who were, almost 60% were identified as suffering with severe anxiety or depression, a further 27% had moderate anxiety or depression and 13% mild anxiety or depression.

“These figures emphasise the link between debt and mental health problems” said the charity’s director of external affairs, Delroy Corinaldi. “Combined together, these issues can have a debilitating effect on people’s lives.”