A GREAT many people forced into poverty by the cost of living crisis are also suffering from stress-related psychological issues, according to the musician and mental health advocate Professor Green.
He was discussing research from British Gas Energy Trust which found that 27% of adults were suffering from mental health issues due to the cost of living, which rose to 70% among 18 to 24-year-olds.
Professor Green told GB News: “The current state of things is horrendous for so many people. In many instances at the moment, it’s people who have never encountered poverty before.
“I grew up in a low income household…I wouldn’t have put things down to the cost of anything crisis. It was just that we were poor and many of the people that we were living amongst were in the same situation but the problems at the moment, it’s just it’s the compounding effect of everything, isn’t it?
“You have energy prices coming down at the same time as the Government begins to stop, or stops actually, subsidising energy bills, so people just can’t catch a break. Poverty is stressful. You know, the shame that comes with it. There’s isolation – it really is tough.”
In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he continued: “I’m here to highlight the support available to the public by way of the British Gas Post Office pop-ups, because there’s a lot of support out there.
“People sometimes are not even able to take their head out of the sand for long enough to seek out, or are aware that it’s available.
“Mental health is impacted in so many negative ways by poverty, but not least of all I think that the shame that comes with the stress of feeling like you can’t provide, like you can’t afford it and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t make ends meet.”
He added: “People don’t always want to talk to people about their problems, but by supporting charities that already exist in these communities, that understand the specific needs of these communities, they’re able to help people in the way that they most need the help.
“It’s like how far can you cut back on when choices become , do we shower or do we eat, do we turn the gas or the electricity on, or what do?
“These are becoming real problems. It’s like there’s only so far you can cut back before quality of life doesn’t even exist.”
