People not socialising because of lack of money

People are so short of cash that they are missing out on spending quality time with family and friends, which is aiding a mental health crisis, according to analysis.

Over seven thousand people were asked how much money they spend on socialising, but many people said they hardly spent anything because they couldn’t afford to enjoy a night out with their loved one’s due to the fact they didn’t have enough spare cash once they had paid their rents and bills.

Almost two in ten people said that they never ‘socialised’ with family and friends and only saw them when there was a family event. The main reason for the lack of socialising was down to money, with seventy-two per cent saying they can’t afford to have nights out at all anymore.

The study highlighted that only around fourteen per cent of people regularly saw friends and family, but many of these admitted it would probably only be once or twice per couple of months.

According to many mental health experts, the above statistics show exactly why the country is facing an epidemic when it comes to people’s mental health and general wellbeing.

Sarah Spittle, a mental health councillor from Manchester told us: “Whilst it is sad to note that people’s finances are so terrible, I think the biggest concern that this analysis shows us, is what kind of lives people must be leading. Having no quality time with family and friends isn’t healthy, and runs in parallel with the fact that we have an emerging mental health crisis. The number of people coming to mental health facilities like ours with anxiety and depression is rising all the time and being cut off from socialising certainly doesn’t help matters.”

People from all walks of life and from all age ranges seemed to be affected in some way. Many millennials said that they much prefer saving to going out these days, but many middle age respondents said they too had to cut back on the amount of ‘dates’ they had with friends and family as they too were feeling the squeeze.