Calling out

Hard Times:Recession-related anxiety is causing an upsurge in calls to support organisations

SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS, help centres and doctors’ surgeries are reporting a “huge” upsurge in calls from people with anxieties about the recession.

And they include organisations one would perhaps not immediately associate with financial issues – organisations such as the Samaritans, the lone-parent organisation One Family, the marriage and relationship support organisation, Accord and community centres.

The surge in calls for recession-related help to these groups has been such that the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, last week announced the provision of €7.8 million to counselling organisations, citing the “new stresses” that were having an “impact on family life”.

The Samaritans for instance says that compared with a year ago the tone of the calls coming to its 24-hour helpline is “very different”. Mary Malcolm, a volunteer Samaritan, says the calls are different “because of the way people are so worried and so anxious about the future”.

“People are worried about losing their jobs, about partners losing their jobs, about how they are going cope and how life is going to change.”

She says that while the issues people have always called about are still there – the relationship issues, the workplace issues, bullying – in a growing number of cases they are more in the background.

“We do get people ringing, crying, feeling they are barely holding things together. They may feel they are a failure in some way, or fear letting their family down. We get calls for example from women who are worried about their partner losing their job, or whose partner has lost their job, and they are the ones having to work out how to make the household finances work.”

Loneliness, she continues, is a significant issue for people with financial worries who often feel they can’t talk about this kind of worry with friends or family.

“What we offer is that we listen. When people can talk to someone it alleviates some of the burden. For those who have friends to talk to that’s wonderful, but for those who don’t, well, we are there – loneliness knows no time of day or night.”

Samaritans never give advice on what to do or how to cope, but explore with the caller how they might cope, or what their options might be.

Similarly, the One Family organisation has had a 60 per cent increase in calls to its helpline this January compared with last, on foot of a national advertising campaign. The major proportion of the increase has been in calls “about the recession and money”, says director Karen Kiernan.

“They are people who have lost their jobs, who are worried about losing their jobs, who are trying to figure out social welfare entitlements, how to keep paying the mortgage or how to keep children in childcare. They’re worried about salaries being cut.”

Again, she says a lot of what people need is “just for someone, who understands what it’s like to be a single parent, to listen”. And again she says one of the most anxiety-inducing things for callers is the uncertainty most people are feeling. “People are getting really stressed about the lack of control over what might be coming for them and their kids.”

The Society of St Vincent de Paul describes as “frightening” the number of people calling “in deep distress” about their situation. The proportion of people calling the society for help for the first time increased from 22 per cent of calls in June 2008, to 29 per cent in November. And the proportion is rising, says a spokesman.

“People are deeply stressed and that is obviously affecting their health. Of all the requests between June and November, 32 per cent were for a visit, 25 per cent were for food vouchers, 17 per cent were for help with gas, electricity and oil and 12 per cent were from people struggling to manage. It’s money issues and people are lonely, depressed and isolated with it all too. It is very, very disturbing.”

He says the society is spending €1 million a week and expects to spend €60 million this year. “Quite frankly we don’t know what’s going to happen or where it’s going to stop.”

The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) has spoken regularly recently about the huge increase in numbers seeking its advice. Its key piece of advice is to address financial worries as early as possible.

Michael Culloty, MABS national director, says people have come to its centres where their worries are so long-standing and so deep that their health has deteriorated and they are depressed. Women in particular, he says, are affected.

“They make up more of our clients because I suppose they are the ones generally worrying about paying the bills and putting food on the table, and they often are so stressed that it does affect their health.”

Mary Ryan, director of the Fingal Centre, a community service in Finglas, Dublin, says of its 60 or so staff, more than 40 are employed as part of the Community Employment (CE)scheme, where participants work 19 and a half hours per week and are trained at the same time to take up employment in the open labour market. The scheme is run by Fás.

“All the talk now is about whether the CE schemes are going to be cut, whether allowances are going to be affected. The atmosphere is one of stress, uncertainty and panic.”

Mel Bates is a GP in Fairview, Dublin and spokesman for the Irish College of General Practitioners. He says there was one day recently when five patients attending his practice had just been made redundant. “That was a day that really stood out,” he says.

“General physical and emotional ill-health does increase during a recession and I’ve no doubt we will see that in coming months.”

All organisations speak of fears that their own budgets for providing essential supports to people experiencing recession-related stresses will be cut.

One Family is currently trying to find alternative funding for its helpline, the budget for which is being cut from the end of the month, while the Fingal Centre has had its budget to run a programme targeted at early school-leavers cancelled.

“So much,” comments the centre’s manager, Mary Ryan, “for Brian Lenihan’s great promise that the vulnerable would be protected from budget cuts.”

* The Samaritans can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 1850-609090.

* One Family can be contacted from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday on Lo-call 1890-662212.

* The Society of St Vincent de Paul can be contacted at regional offices, or through website at svp.ie.

* MABS helpline is 1890-283438, or mabs.ie.