Worried Sick is a new report from the Scottish Association for Mental Health. It reflects concerns about the way that people with mental health problems are left to negotiate the reefs of the benefit system without adequate support; in six cases SAMH workers had to help people attempting suicide because of what was happening.
The report’s sample focused on the poorest areas. That makes it easier to find people in trouble, but it can be misleading. Mental health problems, and benefit problems, don’t just affect the poorest people, or people who live ‘somewhere else’; they can hit anyone, anywhere. It could happen to you.