Money, debt & benefits

The Rethink Advice & Information Service presents:

Balancing the Books Advice Forum - Learning how to deal with debt and navigate direct payments in order to improve mental health.

Free Forum on the 26th November 2010, RIBA building London.

There are only 200 places available at this FREE event, book now to avoid disappointment. For more information and a booking form please clock through to our Balancing the Books Advice Forum page.

Most of us need the security of a roof over our heads and some money in our pockets, whether or not we have mental health problems.

For people who are vulnerable to anxiety or psychosis, it’s especially important for them to have a home and regular income.
Woman looking worried 
But many people with mental health problems find it difficult, or even impossible to cope with complicated money, debt and benefits issues which sometimes demand interviews or physical examinations as well as a great deal of form filling.

In this section, we provide an overview of the main benefits which are available to people with mental health problems and their carers. More detailed information is available on the the Government's DirectGov website

We also look at the relationship between debt and mental illness and provide some basic information about how to deal with debt if you are someone who has got into financial difficulties.

In addition, we mention the ways in which a relative or carer can look after someone elses finances because symptoms of mental illness make this temporarily impossible.

Where can I get further information?

Hand with coins

The Rethink Advice and Information Service have produced a series of factsheets relating to benefits, debt and mental illness.

They cover options for dealing with debt, what to do about benefits and money if you have to go into hospital, how to manage someone else's financial affairs and also the law regarding taking out credit when very unwell.

There are also factsheets on:

These factsheets can be found on our Mental Health Shop website.

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