Financial wellbeing challenges can significantly increase the risk of suicide, as they often contribute to feelings of overwhelming stress, anxiety, helplessness, and despair.
R;pple Ambassador and Advisory Board member Ryan Briggs is on a mission to drive a positive change by empowering healthier relationship with money and improving financial education for employees and leadership teams globally.
With a background in professional sports, he witnessed firsthand that "having money" is imperative but does not always equate to financial wellbeing. His passion for improving financial literacy grew during the pandemic, leading him to create FinWELL Training - an award-winning training company focused on financial education in workplaces worldwide. In this interview, he shares insights into the deep connection between money and mental health, the challenges people face, and the crucial role employers and technology play in fostering financial resilience.
Can you share a bit about your background and experience with financial wellbeing? What led you to specialise in this area?
My experiences within professional sports taught me that simply having money does not mean having healthy relationships with money, mental health or, indeed, happiness. I did my financial services qualifications in 2013 and started to recognise the need for people to build their basic knowledge, understanding and confidence around money matters we didn't learn at school. This just grew and grew in lockdown and so decided to create a training company dedicated to improving financial education and wellbeing for all workplaces globally. It's been quite a journey!
In your experience, what are the biggest challenges faced by people struggling with their financial wellbeing?
Unfortunately, money is linked to most things in life. Our relationship with money is ingrained in us by the age of seven and every life stage and event has an impact on our financial wellbeing and mental health. We didn't learn the basics at school so a lack of education and confidence is the first challenge. Add to that the fact that we're living in extremely challenging times with the fall out from Covid and the cost of living crisis. Our financial wellbeing and mental health are intrinsically linked, and research shows that they can negatively impact each other. They share similar stigmas and even shame, so talking about the challenges and getting the conversations going can be tricky but not impossible.
How do financial wellbeing challenges increase the risk of suicide? What are some of the signs?
Financial wellbeing challenges can significantly increase the risk of suicide, as they often contribute to feelings of overwhelming stress, anxiety, helplessness, and despair. This can lead to feeling a loss of control and inadequacy, reduced self-esteem and then isolation. Some of the signs include:
- Increased withdrawal or isolation: A person experiencing financial stress may pull away from friends, family, and social events due to feelings of shame or embarrassment about their situation.
- Persistent feelings of hopelessness: A person might frequently express feelings of being "stuck" or that there is no way out of their financial struggles. They may feel like things will never improve.
- Changes in mood or behavior: A noticeable shift in mood—becoming more irritable, anxious, or depressed—can be a sign that financial stress is taking a toll on mental health. Sudden mood swings or extreme emotional reactions are also red flags.
- Decline in work or personal responsibilities: Someone struggling with finances may neglect their responsibilities at work or in their personal life, either due to depression or feeling overwhelmed by their financial issues.
- Talking about suicide or self-harm: If someone starts to talk about feeling like a burden, making remarks about not wanting to live, or saying they are in too much pain to go on, this is a serious warning sign.
- Engaging in risky or destructive behaviour: A person may start to engage in reckless behaviour, such as excessive drinking, drug use, or unsafe activities, as a way of coping with their financial problems.
- Physical symptoms: Stress from financial troubles can also manifest physically, with symptoms like insomnia, fatigue, headaches, or stomach problems. These physical effects can often be overlooked but are linked to mental health distress.
How can employers better support their staff's financial wellbeing?
Financial wellbeing is perhaps where mental health was maybe 5 or more years ago. A lot of fantastic work has been done to raise awareness and support employees with mental health, and companies are recognising that one of the most common root causes and/or side effect is poor financial wellbeing. We're just at the start of this, but there's a huge amount employers can do.
First must be fair pay, policies and procedures that lend themselves towards positive financial fitness. Then, you can start to open the dialogue with your teams to get conversations going to smash the stigma. You can then begin to measure financial wellbeing within your organisation and find out what areas of focus and types of support would be most effective. Then, you can introduce ways to support your people, including financial education and guidance, by giving access to educational content, group workshops and 1-1 sessions.
Leading employers also do not upskill key employees, managers, supervisors, mental health advocates, and wellbeing champions so they can build the knowledge, understanding, skills, and confidence to improve their own financial wellbeing before supporting colleagues and team members.
Are there particular industries where financial wellbeing challenges are more prevalent or have a greater impact?
Our Financial Wellbeing can be affected at different times in our lives, but we have identified key stages that could be more impactful. We have also established that there are unique challenges in certain sectors, and some are at more risk where work can be more dangerous, such as construction and transport. We have learnt that a bespoke approach needs to be taken for each company as there is no one-size-fits-all solution; we are all at different stages of life with different needs and various learning styles, especially if we factor in increased awareness around neurodiversity.
What does your role as a R;pple advisory board member involve?
I'm a proud ambassador for R;pple after meeting Alice and hearing her story in 2023. I introduce the R;pple story and resulting life-saving technology to every company we contact. Myself and Alice also created the #FinancialWellbeingMonth campaign linking financial wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention and our companies now partner with Mental Health First Aid England and 400+ supporting employers to raise awareness and improve these three areas for all workplaces. My role on the advisory board is to help develop the technology so that it can be even more proactive reaching people who are either searching for harmful content or support around areas linked to financial wellbeing.
Why is it important for R;pple to expand its protection to those struggling with their financial wellbeing?
I'm proud to tell people that so far 32 people have come forward to say that the R;pple technology was there for them at their most vulnerable moments and is the reason they are still here today. We know that even more can be done to support people before they get to that stage and so we must do all we can to recognise the links between financial wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention and work towards implementing and embedding the relevant support.
How do you see technology playing a role in mental health and suicide prevention, now and in the future?
Whether we like it or not, technology plays a huge role in everything now and even more so in the future. Technology is already making a transformative impact on mental health and suicide prevention, offering more accessible, personalised, and scalable solutions for individuals in crisis. In the future, advancements in AI, big data, and virtual therapies could revolutionise the way we prevent and treat mental health issues, providing more proactive, data-driven, and engaging solutions. However, as technology evolves, it will be crucial to balance innovation with ethical considerations, ensuring that these tools are accessible, secure, and used in ways that prioritise users' well-being and of course link financial wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention with complimentary human-based support too.
If there's one key message you'd like to share about supporting individuals with their financial wellbeing, what would it be?
I would say that financial wellbeing affects us all, and if you're going through a challenging time with money and mental health, then you're not alone. People have been where you are right now, and support is available. This is also not just something that impacts those on lower incomes, as our relationship with money is a critical part of financial wellbeing. We believe that rather than it necessarily being an employer's responsibility, they have a huge opportunity to support their teams to improve financial education and wellbeing, which can lead to positive outcomes for employees and the business and will, in time, become a core employee benefit in its own right.
Any final thoughts on how we, as a society, can do better in mental health support and suicide prevention?
I think we need to keep the conversations going, increase access to support, review what is working and what can be improved. We can also focus more on early intervention, prevention, and more support around the root causes of escalating issues. We have now released the #FWM25 campaigns UK Strategy for the next 12 months, focusing on financial resilience, inspiring leaders, empowering women, successful sectors and finally, men, mental health and money, so hopefully, employers can get involved and work together to measure impact and track progress.
