Housing and mental health.

[calmseeker]

Hi All,

I have been thinking lately about the link between good mental health and housing. Yet again, I have a pending move, which I know is a trigger for my anxiety. I tend to get quite ill after a move, there have been too many moves for me recently. mostly because am in the private housing market and my owners always either move back into their property or sell the property. I yearn for a stable, long term home (I could never afford to buy). I am such a 'homely' person. I feel that if I could remain somewhere for a reasonable amount of time I could really relax and focus on my mental health, I feel like I never can, I am always moving or catching up financially from a move or trying to settle in somewhere new. The cost is phenomenal to rent now, it really blows my mind. What a person needs to come up with for a rental property is quite a lot, not just the rent itself but the moving costs, cleaning of previous property, etc.

I am aware of NRAS but those properties rarely come up. Housing Dep have told me 10-15 plus year wait. Private market ridiculously expensive.

I am very thankful to even have a roof over my head, don't get me wrong (not that I can afford that roof though). I realise there are lots of people who don't even have a home so I am really not ungrateful, just sick of the stress that comes with searching for affordable, decent housing where I can hopefully lay my hat for a few years. A home should be a place where a person can feel safe and relaxed and heal and survive - not feel like a hotel. My ranting was not meant to actually be a big whinge about my situation (sorry if its turned out that way!) more so just a comment on the link between good mental health and stable housing really.

[Guest_1643]

Hey Hanna, thank you for helping and of course no worries at all for the delay.... i'm sending lots of support over this time!! I hope your apartment is coming along. How has it been in your area with the current global events? xx sleepy

[Hanna3]

Hi Sleepy,

Well the house I am living in is falling apart but I'm here for the time being - at least it's a roof over my head even if it's not a very sturdy one I guess!

It's a shame here - cinema closed, churches closed, choir cancelled, U3A courses cancelled, library to close any day now, winter festival cancelled - and I don't know how the cafes etc are going to cope with the new space restrictions announced today - I could see the staff in my favourite café here having a meeting tonight as I went past and they all looked very glum. I feel very sorry for the small businesses here I don't know how they will keep going... and we get icy cold snowy winters, so not having a warm library and warm snug cafes will really hurt people who can't afford heating all day - and no warm library where people can sit and read in warmth...it's a shame. I was looking forward to the winter festival it's meant to be fantastic - all cancelled. I guess my book club will be cancelled to - so it's going to be a boring and isolating winter here! Oh well nothing we can do but bear it as well as we can, try to stay cheerful, and help each other along. How are you going where you are? It's going to feel eerie here tomorrow I guess now the cafes will all be changing, and so many places shut. I'll take my dog Sam for a nice long walk.... cheers!