Think mental illness is still taboo? Well, buckle up, because I’m doubling down with a thread on mental illness AND an even more taboo topic, personal finances. And how people with mental illness pay a mental health premium (consumer penalty?) for essential services. 1/x

I live with anxiety + depression. This can manifest in:

poor working & medium-term memory
difficulty asserting rights & acting under pressure
response inhibition / reluctance communicating
aversion to change
avoidance
difficulty planning ahead
2/x

Poor mental health impacts consumer behaviour. And yet, few if any services make allowances for this. In fact, I would argue most services EXPLOIT these behaviours and take advantage of our most vulnerable citizens. Let’s unpack that with my lived experience. 3/x

Full disclosure: I make a very decent salary, generous pension & benefits. And yet, living with MI has led to poor financial decisions. I’m considered “high functioning” in my MI. I can’t imagine what it’s like for those who aren’t, with below median or poverty-level income. 4/x

So long story short, last summer my available credit is essentially maxed out. But I have a pressing financial need. Hello, anxiety! My solution? Apply for another credit card! Give me some credit (not punny!)... I applied for a low-interest, low-limit card. 5/x

Credit card companies make it sooo easy for people w/ mental illness. Entire process done online in less than 20 minutes. Approval instantaneous. Card received in the mail 3 or 4 days later. Never even had to speak to a human. See tweet 2/x. YAY! Problem solved, right? RIGHT? 6/x

WRONG! FFWD to earlier this year. I’m coming out of a major depressive episode. In my recovery, I’ve identified finances as the number 1 stressor/trigger for my MI. I work up the courage + motivation to take action. Apply for and secure a personal loan. Yay, me! 7/x

Loan conditional on paying off the higher interest, higher balance credit card. Done. And cancelling it. FML. See 2/x. Now, my lending institution was very helpful. Told card cancellation had to be in writing. I just had to write/sign the letter, and they would mail it. Phew! 8/x

Ha! Remember how EASY it was to apply and get approval for a credit card? With no human contact? See tweet 6/x. But have you tried to CANCEL a cc? Let me put it this way: this was back in early April. We are now July 26. That particular card was finally cancelled yesterday. 9/x

What happened? About 2 weeks after sending in my written notice of cancellation, the cc company writes back. We acknowledge receipt... yada, yada, yada... you have to call our customer service line to cancel. I know. You’re thinking, what’s so hard about that? See 2/x. 10/x

Meanwhile, the credit card has been cut up, no new purchases made with it. I gear up for the fight with “customer retention”. Anxiety levels are ramped up in anticipation. I call. “We can’t cancel right now, you have a new balance of $58.83 outstanding.” 11/x

To manage my symptoms outlined in 2/x, my monthly bill payments are automated. Either directly from my bank account or via credit card. I had changed payment methods on services I was keeping, with two remaining automated payments on that cc for services I *tried* to cancel. 12/x

Written notice of cancellation by email given to these two service providers... only to be told cancellation had to be done by calling customer service line. Seeing a pattern yet? Screw that, I thought, I’ve cancelled the cc in writing, they’re not getting another dime! 13/x

NARRATOR: They would, in fact, see another dime from our protagonist... and then some. 4 mos + $235.32 later, our hero finally dons his cape to take on the arch nemesis Anxiety.

Just 1 example of the “mental health premium” I pay due to mental illness.

Still not convinced? 14/x

Never mind the “loyalty premiums” I’ve paid over 20+ yrs to big telecom companies for phone/cable/internet/mobile services because my MI Impacts my ability to ring up customer retention every 6-12 months to negotiate the latest, better deal on offer to “new customers only”. 15/x

Never mind the astounding amount of high credit card interest paid over decades of automated monthly billing for essential and, admittedly, less essential services. Yeah, that one hurts too much to even think about, much less unpack. 16/x

Remember the two monthly automated payments referenced earlier? The sub-plot to this thread is that one of these two involves a national charity. Yeah... it’s not just heartless, capitalist corporations that benefit from the mental health premium paid by ppl living with MI. 17/x

In a nutshell, what I’d only ever intended to be a one-time $25 charitable donation turned into a $25 monthly contribution billed to a credit card. For just over TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS. So, yeah, $25 turned into a $775 windfall for the charity in question. How’d THAT happen? 18/x

Remember from tweet 2/x:

poor working & medium-term memory
difficulty asserting rights & acting under pressure
response inhibition / reluctance communicating
avoidance

The “high-pressure” charity pitch came at my front door. 19/x

Young guy, friendly and convincing. I agreed to donate $25. He did clarify it was a monthly contribution campaign. I figured, WTH, it’s not much, I’ll cancel in a few months.

NARRATOR: Our protagonist failed to recognize that “a few” means 31 months in mental health years. 20/x

But it didn’t *really* cost you $775, you got tax credits, some will say.


Soon after, we moved, changed ISP+email address. Never saw receipts. Took 31 months to cancel. Ya *really* think my MI will push me to get receipts & amend past tax returns? 21/x

Don’t forget, these monthly donations were going straight to a credit card. With ongoing balance, at 19.99% or thereabouts. So yeah, mental health issues and personal finances are intrinsically linked. Financial planning / management are a huge challenge for people with MI. 22/x

We need to demand better. To put in place stronger consumer protections for vulnerable citizens combatting mental illness. Make it as easy if not easier to cancel services as it is to sign-up for them. And ensure they always get the best “deal” from service providers. 23/x

I don’t have data, but a UK organization last year estimated the mental health premium costs people with mental illness an extra £1100-1550 for essential services. Roughly up to $3K CDN annually. Learn more from @CitizensAdvice’s report here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/CitizensAdvice/Consumer%20publications/Mental%20Health%20Premium.pdf

/fin