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Every generation from young adults to pensioners. But there is, as you're about to hear, another troubling finding. Almost half of respondents have never consulted a mental health care provider, while stigma and a fear of judgment remain widespread. So, my question is: are we dealing with a mental health crisis, an affordability crisis, or both coming together? In that respect, I'm going to talk to Dr. Tabo Motlukani, who's a specialist psychiatrist at Medi Clinic Southern Africa.

Dr. Mokotlani, welcome to you. If money worries then are the biggest reported mental health pressure across every generation, are we trying to treat a social and economic problem as a medical one? Yes, yes. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me, Jeremy. It is a major problem and it is one pressure that cuts across every age group with other influences such as family circumstances.

Employment, physical activity, social media, and local events shifted depending on the life stage, but financial constraints, they were consistent across all ages. Between 59 and 66% of your respondents identify financial pressure. Doctor, how do we distinguish ordinary financial anxiety from a condition then that requires professional treatment?

Is there a line? There is actually a line, Jeremy. Remember, when we say you have an anxiety disorder versus anxiety, anxiety, I mean, it happens to all of us. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have a mental illness. You can be anxious because you have to perform. But when we say you have anxiety disorder, it means that you have a clinical diagnosis. So things like financial pressure.

They put you at risk of developing things like anxiety disorder. So, hence, we always say there is a bi-directional relationship between poverty and financial constraints versus mental illness or mental health. So, we are basically saying once you have difficulties in finances, you are highly likely to experience things like anxiety disorder, depression, and the opposite. Once you have a mental illness,

Now it means that you cannot perform, you cannot sustain a job, now you're going to have financial pressure. So that is how it relates. Is there real evidence then that financial stress is causing deteriorating mental health or is it simply occurring alongside it? It is. There is evidence, documented evidence to say financial pressure, including other socioeconomic factors, they play a major role.