Vanessa Edwards, from Braddan, was working as a corporate statutory administrator in 1995, when she became divorced and a single mother.
“That was the first time I was diagnosed with depression and postnatal depression,” she said. “Because I succumbed to stress and anxiety I lost that job and have always had an issue with my finances since,” she said.
Having been diagnosed with bipolar and struggling with addiction, she said her ability to carry on working had been “limited over the years.”
At one point, Edwards found herself in £1,700 overdraft with her bank and unable to pay it off with mounting interest as well as in rent and gas arrears.
She described being in debt as being a “terrible blow, I lost my confidence, I lost my credibility…