‘It’s destroying me:’ How Universal Credit is affecting people with mental health problems At Mind we meet so many people who are facing problems with Universal Credit after losing their job because of their mental heath

Every year, 300,000 people with mental health problems fall out of work. Coping with that change when you’re unwell is a difficult experience at the best of times.

It can be confusing and disorienting not knowing what you’ll do next. Fears of not knowing how you’ll survive can become all-consuming. A Mind survey found half of those who had considered or attempted suicide felt problems with debt, benefits and housing were a factor.

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week – and it’s a time to recognise that some of the biggest things that affect our mental health are practical problems, like money worries.

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At Mind we meet so many people who are facing problems with Universal Credit, the Government’s new benefits system. One of the biggest issues people struggle with is being forced to wait at least five weeks before they receive their first payment.

Like the NHS, benefits are supposed to keep us well

When you lose a job it’s an incredibly lonely feeling to have your life change in ways you can’t control. The last thing you need is to live in fear of missing your rent or getting sucked into debt.

That’s where our benefits system should come in. Just like the NHS, it should be there to help us at the time when we need it. And like the NHS it has an important role to play in keeping us well.

Getting the right financial support at the right time can be life-changing. It takes away that fear and worry, and it gives us the space to focus on moving forward with our lives.

But for too many people that’s just not happening. Lisa* found herself needing to claim Universal Credit after she experienced a mental health crisis and lost her job. At a time when things were already tough, having to wait more than five weeks for her first payment made things even tougher: “I could not pay my rent until the payment was sorted out. It took so long to get payment and all the advisors kept saying was that this is common. I almost lost my home. I found the whole process extremely stressful and it has exacerbated my condition. I do not know how people with more severe conditions would cope without a lot of support.”

‘I feel suicidal as there’s no proper support in place to help me. The phone calls, the financial changes, the meetings, the uncertainty, the long wait for first payment’ – Harry

Lisa’s story is all too common. Every week we hear from people who are struggling to cope with the long wait for their first Universal Credit payment. Harry told us the wait and the uncertainty that came with it eventually led to him returning to hospital: “It’s destroying me. I feel suicidal as there’s no proper support in place to help me. The phone calls, the financial changes, the meetings, the uncertainty, the long wait for first payment. These are all the things that make my condition unbearable. The stress of waiting for money caused me to go into mental crisis.”

The Government has said anyone who is struggling can take out an advance payment to tide them over. But this still has to be repaid like a loan. So many of the people we talk to are struggling to make ends meet because of these repayments, leaving them stuck between a rock and a hard place. None of this is inevitable.

Making real changes

Every year when Mental Health Awareness Week comes around, many of us talk about how we need to go beyond awareness and make real changes across society. We can’t forget about the role the benefits system needs to play in that.

The Government has the power to end the five-week wait and make sure that no-one has to go to a food bank or see their mental health deteriorate while waiting to claim Universal Credit. That’s why at Mind we’re joining the Trussell Trust’s #5weekstoolong campaign.

The Trussell Trust is an anti-poverty charity that supports a network of more than 1,200 food bank centres across the UK. In the past year, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network have handed out more than 1.6m emergency food parcels across the UK – more than it has ever given out before. Universal Credit is not the only benefit payment people referred to food banks have experienced problems with, but issues with moving onto the new system are a key driver of increasing need. The charity believes ending the five week wait for a first Universal Credit payment should be the Government’s first priority to help create a future without food banks.

The wait for Universal Credit is five weeks too long – you can help end it. *All names have been changed

Ayaz Manji is Senior Policy and Campaigns Officer at Mind

A DWP spokesperson said:

“Having a mental health condition shouldn’t be a barrier to a fulfilling career. Our Access to Work scheme helps ensure mental health is a workplace priority and 950,000 more disabled people have moved into work in the last five years.

“With Universal Credit your first payment is available on day one as an advance, and safeguards are in place to keep repayments are affordable and sustainable.

“Work Coaches provide tailored support for people with mental health conditions, including pausing work search requirements.”

*The DWP’s comment has been updated