Poverty and mental illness are not only linked, but there is also a causal relationship. This is the conclusion of researchers from Amsterdam UMC, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Modena. Their study shows that while certain mental health issues can hinder financial stability, poverty is also one of the causal factors leading to mental health problems.
This study was published today in Nature Human Behaviour. This study indicates that certain mental health problems can make a person's financial situation uncertain. But conversely, we also see that poverty can lead to mental health problems.
" Marco Boks, psychiatrist at Amsterdam UMC Previous research has shown a strong correlation between poverty and mental illness, but disentanglement between cause and effect proved difficult. The consequences of mental illness can affect a person's financial situation, for example, if this person is unable to work as well or has higher healthcare costs. But difficult financial circumstances can also cause psychological problems.
The researchers used data from the UK Biobank and the international Psychiatric Genomic Consortium. "We discovered that schizophrenia and ADHD causally contribute to poverty. Conversely, poverty contributes to major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.
The risk of anorexia nervosa is actually reduced when there is poverty," says Boks. Firstly, a measure of poverty was determined on the basis of household income, occupational income and social depr.
