Concerns about money, relationships and health top people’s worries for 2009
Monday 14 December
2009
Samaritans urges people to not let their worries spiral
out of control and to seek support for emotional distress this
Christmas and during the coming year.
Nearly half the UK population (48%) has
worried this year about debt and money, according to a survey
published today by Samaritans and YouGov, with almost a quarter of
people (23%) describing 2009 as a bad year or their worst year
ever.
The poll of more than 2,000 people asked
the public to identify their five biggest worries over the past
year. After money, other top-five sources of anxiety were problems
in relationships with family and friends (reported by 35% of
people) and physical health concerns (32%), followed by fears over
job security (24%) and workplace stress (24%).
Other key findings were:
- loneliness was one of the top worries
amongst 21% of young people (aged 18-24) compared to only 8% of
older people (aged 55 plus);
- more women (25%) have worried about their
appearance or ageing than men (18%);
- 10% of men have worried about sport and
how their favourite team is doing compared to 1% of women;
- people have been more worried about
domestic politics (24%) and world affairs (23%) than about what was
happening in their own neighbourhood (8%);
- over twice as many women (23%) have
worried about their ability to cope emotionally with life than men
(11%);
- while 23% of people described 2009 as a
bad year, for 18% 2009 was a good year; 41% thought the year had
been both good and bad, featuring ups and downs.
Samaritans’ Chief Executive Catherine
Johnstone said: “In the last year, Samaritans received
five million calls and many of them were about the worries
identified in this survey, with approximately one in every ten
calls linked to financial stress.
"If people don’t talk about
their problems, they can build up over time and spiral into more
serious emotional distress. Sharing your troubles can be a huge
relief and is often the first step to finding a way of coping with
the challenges that life throws at all of us. Samaritans’ trained
volunteers are available 24/7 to offer confidential support to
anyone feeling anxious, unhappy or distressed this Christmas and
throughout the coming year.”
A full
national and regional breakdown of the survey for the UK is
available
A breakdown of
the survey for the Republic of Ireland is
available
For further information about the
survey or to set up interviews please contact Sal Lalji, Press
& PR Manager on 020 8394 8342 or email s.lalji@samaritans.org.
-ends-
Notes to Editors
To see the press release about
the survey results in the Republic of Ireland please
click here
All figures, unless
otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was
2082 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th - 30th November
2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have
been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged
18+).
Today also sees the launch of a new Samaritans
television advert in Scotland. The advert promotes Samaritans’
emotional support helpline number and features a portrait of a man
on the edge, overwhelmed by pressure at work, from the bank and
from his wife. The advert will air on STV Macro and ITV Borders
from today for four weeks.
A new Samaritans’ radio advert will be aired
in Ireland, funded by the HSE National Office for Suicide
Prevention. The advert promotes Samaritans’ emotional support
helpline and focuses on the helpline being available at any time to
anyone who is feeling stressed, anxious or unhappy. The advert will
play on national and local radio stations for the next three weeks.
To listen to the advert, please click here
Samaritans
Samaritans' vision is for a
society where fewer people die by suicide because people are able
to share feelings of emotional distress openly without fear of
being judged. Samaritans believes that offering people the
opportunity to be listened to in confidence, and accepted without
prejudice, can alleviate despair and suicidal feelings.
Samaritans is a registered charity, founded in
1953, which offers 24-hour confidential emotional support to anyone
in emotional distress. The service is offered by 16,534
trained volunteers and is entirely dependent on voluntary
support. Across the UK, you can call Samaritans on 08457 90
90 90 (1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland) email jo@samaritans.org, write to
Samaritans at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA, or if you are
deaf or hard of hearing use the single national minicom number
08457 90 91 92. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information.
Calls from BT will be charged at up to 2 pence per minute at all
times. A call set-up fee of 7 pence applies to calls from
residential lines. Mobile and other providers' charges may
vary.