Adults pretend to be ‘fine’ rather than admit to struggling with mental health

A study of 2,000 adults found nearly four in 10 worry the person asking the question is only making small talk and doesn’t really want to hear about a mental health difficulty.

A quarter are too embarrassed to open up and give a more honest answer while 17 per cent worry it would make the other person like them less if they did.

And a fifth fear it would make the other person wish they hadn’t asked the question.

Talk about you wellbeing

The research was commissioned by Santander to encourage people to talk about their wellbeing after it emerged 66 per cent have struggled with mental health because of money issues.

And with the UK furlough scheme now set to end, it’s feared people will continue to suffer – including furloughed workers who may now be facing redundancy.

As a result of this - and the significant number of adults who have struggled due to their finances - the bank has teamed up with mental health charity, MIND, to provide Santander staff with training and guidance to help them have ‘the right conversations’ with customers experiencing mental health difficulties.

Josie Clapham, director of financial support at Santander, said: “Many of us don’t want to ‘burden’ others with how we feel, or we worry that we’ll be judged or viewed differently if we’re honest about a mental health struggle.