Repossession could pose serious 'mental threat'

London, Oct 12 : The stress of the global economic downturn can pose serious threat to mental health, according to a new survey.

The survey of 2,000 people, which was released to mark World Mental Health day, showed house repossession as the event most likely to cause mental health problems, ahead of redundancy, or finding out about infertility.

Charity Rethink has called for action to prevent a "mental health disaster".

The survey, which was published as a UN report, found that England spends more of its health budget on mental health care than any other European country.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see a rise in the number of people going to their doctor because of mental health problems in the coming months," BBC quoted Rethink's director of public affairs Paul Corry, as saying.

"Even for people lucky enough to hang on to their home, the stress and worry of arrears building up can be enough to harm your mental health - this survey shows it worries millions of us," he added.

He said that people who already had mental health problems were likely to be treated less well by their lenders, and did not have a "safety net" to protect them.

"There's an urgent need to do something to prevent a mental health disaster," he said.

ANI