Debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty asked 1,500 clients how they felt before receiving help for their debt problems.
Forty per cent admitted they had either considered or attempted killing themselves.
The charity revealed the results on World Suicide Prevention Day today to highlight the pressure on people caught up in financial difficulty.
CAP's Chief Executive Matt Barlow said: “Significant changes in circumstance can trap people into debt – job loss, illness and relationship breakdown are common ones – but these are emotional issues as well as financial and can lead to feelings of deep despair as the debt spirals and life becomes unbearable."
“Most worryingly, the number of new clients who have told us they were feeling suicidal has risen by three per cent in a single year. This gives us new determination to get our message out: We want those who feel they have reached rock bottom to know they are not on their own and that recovery is possible. We know that because we see people come back from their darkest moments every day.”
Clients include one unnamed mother-of-two from Nottingham, who struggled with debts after a marriage breakdown.
“I got depressed because of a lot of things, the debts and the feeling that I’d let my sons down," she said. “Everything was in such a mess. You feel guilty which leads to depression. The doctor put me on medication and one night, I tried to commit suicide.”
CAP helped her to draw up a budget and pay off the debt she owes.
“It’s wonderful now. Each day I feel I’m blessed for another day," she said. "I used to be a downtrodden woman and now I’m a woman who is out and about, always helping everyone else."
On the web: www.capdebthelp.org