Austerity measures contribute to mental ill health

Suicide rates have increased since the beginning of austerity, following a 20 year decreasing trend.

We have seen first-hand the devastating effects that reductions to benefits, sanctions over petty issues, and the stresses associated with the ATOS assessment process, can have on our clients, their families and broader communities. Again, this exacerbates existing mental health difficulties for many people and can lead to the development of often serious mental health problems.

Austerity erodes communities and unfairly disadvantages the most vulnerable members of society.

Austerity measures serve to increase income inequality and maintain existing structures of power. Despite the financial crisis, the richest in the UK have retained their share of income and wealth. The UK is ranked 4th most unequal in terms of income in the OECD countries. It is well established that income inequality increases mental health problems. Higher inequality in a country is related to higher levels of diagnosed mental health problems, and lower levels of child wellbeing, as measured by UNICEF. As well as being morally repugnant, this is economically unsound.

Mental health problems often lead to people being excluded from employment, valued social roles, and access to basic resources such as adequate food and housing. In turn, these severe life stresses can cause and exacerbate mental health problems.

Women are disproportionately affected by austerity measures. For instance, they are more likely to be affected by welfare cuts. Further, funding for gender based violence organisations has been drastically reduced. This means that many women may be unable to leave abusive relationships. There is a vast body of evidence linking early childhood adversity and trauma to mental health problems in later life. The stresses that austerity measures place on families could create a mental health time bomb for the next generation of children growing up in Scotland.

To have real impact, interventions need to be targeted at systemic and societal levels, not just the individual level. It is imperative that Scottish MPs in the next Westminster government seek to protect public spending on the NHS. We believe that there are also considerable opportunities for Scottish MPs to exert their influence in Westminster to promote an agenda of equality and social justice for the whole of the UK. We call on all parliamentary candidates throughout Scotland, across all parties, to do everything in their power to resist further cuts, scapegoating and austerity policies. We call on parliamentary candidates to acknowledge the relationship between austerity and psychological distress and to implement policies to address this problem.

The undernoted have signed this letter in a personal capacity. Their views do not necessarily represent those of any of their employers.

Lisa Adam, Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Dr Karen Allan, Consultant Forensic Clinical Psychologist; Dr Suzan Aydinlar, Counselling Psychologist; Dr Nick Bell, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Isabel Boyd, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Petra Boynton, PhD; Dr Mary Cawley, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Greig Coull, Clinical Psychologist; Rona Craig, Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Dr Leah Cronin, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Susan Cross, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Maria Dempster, Clinical Psychologist; Patrick Doyle, Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Dr Ellen Duff, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Jan Ferris, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Chiara Focone, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Lise Forsyth, Clinical Psychologist; Dr David Gillanders, Clinical Psychologist; Dr David Grinter, Clinical Psychologist; Professor Andrew Gumley, Clinical Psychologist; Hamish J McLeod, PhD CPsychol; Dr Susie Harding, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Nick Hartley, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Faye Hayes-Williams, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Catherine Jenkins, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Joe Judge, Clinical Psychologist; Professor Peter Kinderman, Clinical Psychologist; Ruth Lennon, Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Dr Sandy McAfee, Consultant Clinical Psychologist; Professor Tom McMillan, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology; Fiona McCrohan, Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Dr Suzanne Mills, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Mira Mojee, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Fraser Morrison, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Claire Niedzwiedz, Postdoctoral Researcher; Dr Grainne O'Brien, Clinical Psychologist; Tara O'Brien, Primary Care Mental Health Therapist; Dr Ian Patterson, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Elizabeth Reilly, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Emma Rhodes, Clinical Psychologist; Mr Peter Ronald, Consultant Psychologist; Kerry Ross, Primary Care Mental Health Therapist; Dr Susan Ross, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Bruce Scott, Psychoanalyst; Emma Scott-Smith, Psychology PhD Research Student; Dr Mhairi Selkirk, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Eleanor Simpson, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Amanda Stevenson, Clinical Psychologist; Simon Stuart, Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Simon Spence, Counsellor; Dr Garry Tanner, Consultant Clinical Psychologist; Dr Jonathan Todman, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Ross Turner, Clinical Psychologist; Dr Ross Warwick, Clinical Psychologist,

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