Income Loss Linked to Risk of Mental Disorders

 

People with a recent drop in income are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, and drug abuse, according to a new study.

The researchers also found that people in the lowest income brackets had higher overall rates of attempted suicide, mood and personality disorders than those with the highest income.

Researchers and policy makers need to figure out how to "meet the basic needs of individuals in that (low-income) bracket," Dr. Jitender Sareen, the study's lead author from the University of Manitoba in Canada, told Reuters Health. "They're not necessarily interested in, say, a psychological intervention," he said. "They're more wanting basic needs met."

Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick in the UK who has studied the link between money and mental health, told Reuters health the study supports the idea that low income is causing a higher rate of mental disorders, and not the other way around. But that's very difficult to prove, he said.

Full article at Reuters Health Information

4/11