[l_c_jackson]

Even when my brother was relatively sane he could never save, even on a good salary. Now that he has had paranoia and occasional delusions for over 20 years and is receiving "neglect in the community" he regularly exceeds his overdraft limit. His brother (me) and sister regularly end up paying off his overdraft. Is this common? What can you do about it?

Regards, LC Jackson.

[Universal Credit]

l_c_jackson, on 22 April 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Even when my brother was relatively sane he could never save, even on a good salary. Now that he has had paranoia and occasional delusions for over 20 years and is receiving "neglect in the community" he regularly exceeds his overdraft limit. His brother (me) and sister regularly end up paying off his overdraft. Is this common? What can you do about it?

Regards, LC Jackson.

Never been in debt. Diangnosed with Sz over twenty years ago when a engineering student. I always got distinctions in mathematics. These might be linked?

Probably bailing him out is a mistake. A few months in nick for non-payment or having the bailifs in might be what he needs to persuade him to buy a calculator and start budgeting?

Given the nations public and private financial predicament maybe you'll want to change the title? If I can micromanage a fractional pa income year in and year out, and stay afloat, why can't other 'normal' people stay off the plastic?

[toffee]

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[Universal Credit]

toffee, on 24 April 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Some people claim it is. Personally I've never been in debt and have randomely managed to accumulate around £6000 in savings through astute banking. However, I do suffer somewhat from the illness fianncially e.g. not going out to cash cheques, wasting loads of money on ready meals rather than cooking fresh, frequent library fines (i see this is my charity donation to the community), not filling in forms quickly enough (twice I have lost around a £1000 in benefits because I've not been well enough to fill in the forms) and a few other things that mean I lose money. OVerall, though I am very good with money. Actually, thinking about it maybe I'm not good with money when my illness is factored in

Saving money would have been classed as a symptom of mental illness until recently. They've got you if you do and they've got you if you don't. Put a well paid shrink on benefits and see how long before you have a skeleton service?

[MrD]

If he is suffering from Depression and/or Anxiety then yes, it could be part of the problem.

High anxiety prevented me from dealing with my money matters for several months at a time. Payments were missed, money was foolishly spent on other things and I found myself unable to keep control of my bank balance, which frustrated me even more because I was a Billing Project Manager for several years. Those nasty brown envelopes or Credit Card statements soon piled up and remained unopened for months. Add in the ever increasing Indian Based call centers, when ever I found myself 'well enough' to regain control of my money worries, I would always find some half English speaking, unhelpful 'script reading' soul that just made me feel like I was talking to a brick wall. (no offense to them, they are only trained to do what is written in front of them, but that is a whole other topic lol)

I never accepted help to clear my debts, I drove myself into the black and slowly paid my way back to normality. Although my anxiety was partly to blame, you could say I learned my lesson. I do not even contemplate the idea of having a Credit Card or Loan and I never do anything I can not afford. I also save to. Which is a first for me lol.

There are many companies out there that will help people like your brother to regain control of his finances and even help set up 'suitable' payments with the respected companies that he can actually afford. CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) being one of them, seeing as they are 'free' but there are a lot of debt management companies these days, just need to be careful picking the right one, some have big 'start up' fees.

[Olivia - Rethink]

Hi LC,

We have some good advisers around debt and mental health, who you can contact through our advice service

We also have a factsheet about how to deal with debt which could help if you are finding that your brother is getting into debt during periods when he is unwell. It also discusses some reasons why it might be possible that a person could get into debt due to mental illness.

Best wishes,

Olivia

[Universal Credit]

There isn't much chance of gainful employment with a diagnosis of Sz so it is imperative to save and spend rather than doing what the normals continue(for now) to do which is spend and hopefully pay it back. Apparently save and spend was universally popular here before the 1980s and it still is in those countries doing well.