Psychologists Against Austerity Campaign

6th May 2015

With the outcome of the general election looking unclear one thing we can be sure of is that austerity will be something that remains at the forefront of the electorate’s consciousness during the post-election period. How this will translate into government policy is uncertain, however one campaign making a case against further austerity policies is Psychologists Against Austerity.

Members of the campaign have stated that ‘as applied psychologists it is (their) public and professional duty to be speaking out against the further implementation of austerity policies. […] Austerity policies have damaging psychological costs, both increasing mental distress in the present and storing problems for the future. This can be demonstrated with robust and well-established psychological research.’

The PAA ‘aims to mobilise psychologists and psychological knowledge to make a case against further austerity policies’ and have identified five ‘Austerity Ailments’ (specific psychological pathways between austerity policies and increased mental distress.) These are:

• Humiliation and Shame
  
  Prolonged humiliation following a severe loss trebles the chance of being diagnosed with clinical depression. Shame and humiliation are endemic in experiences of poverty, which has increased during austerity.
• Fear and Mistrust
  
  Austerity has been driven through with a politics of fear and mistrust. Loss of trust underlies several forms of mental distress. Low levels of trust increase the chance of being diagnosed with depression by nearly 50%.
• Instability and Insecurity
  
  Job insecurity, which has increased during austerity, is as damaging for mental health as unemployment.
• Isolation and Loneliness
  
  Austerity has shut down many crucial communal resources. Social isolation is poisonous for mental health and recovery; loneliness is as damaging to health as smoking or drinking alcohol.
• Being Trapped and Powerless
  
  Long term entrapping life experiences nearly treble the chances of being diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

The campaign launched their briefing paper on the 4th of March 2015 at the House of Lords and have also set up a petition aimed at the leaders of all UK political parties for an inquiry into the psychological impact of austerity.

Vanessa Griffin & Laura McGrath from the PAA will be speaking on ‘The psychological impact of austerity at work’ at the institutes upcoming London conference Workplace Issues: taking up the issues with the new government on Wednesday 10 June 2015, click here to book your place now.

For more information about the PAA click here to visit their website.