Increase in rates of debt and depression

Depression has been reported to be costing the nation's economy around £8.6bn a year, £3bn more than a decade ago. With one in four people experiencing some kind of mental health problems over the course of a year, is there a danger of depression becoming the new backache for the horticultural sector?

The caseworker team at Perennial, horticulture's trade charity, is anecdotally reporting a marked increase in the numbers of clients with depression and anxiety, and a recent survey of the charity's clients showed a 4% rise in respondents who were not working because of ill health (21% in 2011 against 17% in 2008). Although Perennial doesn't offer counselling for mental health problems, it does provide specialised, practical help and advice with debt and other financial problems, which are commonly linked to depression: the same Perennial survey shows the number of clients seeking out debt advice has increased from 18% of respondents in 2008 to 27% in 2011.

Perennial believes it's in employers' interest to do more to raise awareness of the help that is available to their staff through the charity. HTA member Dougal Philip is a Perennial Trustee: "Too many of the clients who come to Perennial for help only do so when their problem has reached a crisis, by which time their options are limited. There is a potential benefit to employers in alerting staff to our services: tackling a debt problem in its early stages reduces the likelihood of the problem becoming intractable and the chances of the individual concerned becoming depressed and needing to take time off sick. I hope that by putting forward a business argument for promoting Perennial's services alongside the issue of staff welfare, employers will respond by getting in touch with the charity."

Perennial's help for those experiencing debt problems includes budgeting advice, advice on income maximisation, preparation of financial statements for creditors and representation at repossession or eviction hearings. The service is available to anyone who is working in or retired from horticulture and can be accessed through the 'helping you' pages of Perennial's website, by calling the Perennial debt line on 0800 2 944 244 or by emailing debtadvice@perennial.org.uk.

http://www.perennial.org.uk/news/debtdepression.aspx