When Lucy Rogers* finally opened a letter she had been ignoring for months, informing her that her utilities bill was increasing, it was the final straw. “I remember I just walked into work and burst into tears… I said: ‘I can’t physically afford to live anymore.’”
“At that point, I was so tired and so exhausted, and functioning as an adult was so challenging because of my ADHD.”
In debt for most of her adult life, Ms Rogers would enter her flat each day and avoid looking at her mailbox, unable to bear the mound of letters demanding she pay her bills.
Some of them were marked red, meaning urgent, and they would typically only get opened when her mother came around and made her do so.
The pressure was relentless, and with each unpaid bill, anxiety piled up. She kept taking out more loans and was stuck in a cycle she couldn’t find the mental space to escape. As the cost of living rose and her direct debits crept up by £100 every six months, the burden became unbearable.
“I finally broke, and I finally couldn’t carry the weight of that relentless terror and pressure of having to meet all of those obligations,” she told The Independent.
“Honestly, that day I thought about killing myself, I just thought: ‘I can’t handle this anymore, I cannot cope with people demanding all this money from me.’”
According to Monzo, ADHD can cost individuals an additional £1,600 each year due to impulse spending, missed bills, and difficulty sticking to a budget.
A survey of more than 500 people commissioned by YouGov found 80 per cent of women and 71 per cent of men said money problems caused by their ADHD led to anxiety.
Ms Rogers, a 38-year-old from Devon, was diagnosed with ADHD three years ago. She also has Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition which affects the thyroid and can cause weight loss, fatigue, excessive sweating and anxiety, among other things.
“I struggled through most of early adulthood, not knowing that I had ADHD and wondering why I just found everything so difficult in comparison to my peer group,” she said.
“I couldn’t keep on top of bills, even with automated payments. I struggled with budgeting, and I struggled with making sure that there was enough money left at the end of the month.”
She had about £200 of disposable income each month, which usually ran out about 10 days before payday. Being too exhausted to cook due to her autoimmune condition, she would often order takeaways, draining her money.
The NHS estimates that around 2.5 million people in England have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
For many people, debt is pushing them to a crisis point. Tasks like managing money, spending wisely, completing financial forms, or even opening bills are difficult and can affect mental health.
A lot of Ms Rogers’ money struggles came down to executive dysfunction, a common ADHD symptom that affects the brain’s ability to manage thoughts, emotions, and behaviour.
Professor Barbara Sahakian, an ADHD expert from Cambridge University, said: “The key core cognitive and behavioural symptoms are impulsivity, hyperactivity and/or inattention.”
Many people with ADHD will act on impulse, she said, and buy something they can’t afford, even if it will cause issues for them later.
For Ms Rogers, her main impulse purchase was books. “I would sink into a story, and I would forget about what my life was like,” she said.
Prof Sahakian said executive dysfunction also includes problems in planning, problem-solving, and risky decision-making, which can make it hard to think about how a decision will impact the future.
“Paying your bills, for most of us, it’s something that we’d be anxious about if we didn’t do,” Prof Sahakian added.
But for people with ADHD, everyday tasks, such as paying bills, can be difficult. “They don’t have the ability to keep things in mind as much as other people do,” she explained.
“It may be that these things just drop out of the working memory, and something more interesting pops in.”
Ms Rogers believes there needs to be better support and financial education in school, and wishes she’d been taught more about budgeting and money management from a younger age.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Through our Plan for Change, we’ll ensure young people leave education with a good grasp of how to manage their finances.”
Ms Rogers also thinks banks should intervene more proactively when people are struggling to pay bills or repeatedly going into overdraft.
The Financial Conduct Authority said: “People struggling with debt don’t have to face it alone. If you’re worried about keeping up with payments, reach out to your lender – they have a range of support options and will work with you to agree the best one for you. You can also find free debt advice through MoneyHelper.”
When Ms Rogers hit her breaking point, she reached out to Christians Against Poverty, a debt-counselling charity, which helped her develop a plan to tackle her debt. After receiving help, she decided to give up her one-bedroom flat and move into shared housing.
She said being able to save for the first time was a “great feeling”, adding: “It was that education process of going through servicing my debt that gave me confidence and experience and education to handle my debt.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
* Name has been changed
