Pity the rich, report says

You don't have to be as rich as the Queen to be unhappy

British people should be more sympathetic to rich people who suffer from "affluenza" - illnesses brought on by their extreme wealth.

American psychologist Jessie O Neill believes that being wealthy disturbs emotional well-being.

In a report for BBC Radio Five Live on Sunday, she argues that people should feel sorry for the rich as well as the poor.

The psychotherapist founded the Affluenza Project in Wisconsin, US, and counsels rich families for between $10,000 and $15,000 (£6,000-9,000) per day to help them come to terms with their wealth.

She describes the word "affluenza" as meaning "a dysfunctional relationship with money".

HOW RICH IS RICH? Survey asked how much money makes a person rich? 33% said £100,000 50% said £500,000 2% said £10m Source: NOP poll World Wealth Report said £1m Swiss bankers Loedstar said £30m

Meanwhile, an NOP poll of 1,000 people showed 56% believed rich people generate wealth and create jobs, and the same number think the rich are good for Britain.

The findings suggest the British are relaxed about people having more wealth than themselves, with only 16% saying rich people made them feel envious or inadequate, while 75% disagreed with the statement.

But, according to Andrew Oswald of Warwick University, who has researched the nation's attitude to money, the reverse is true.

It's not intentional but rich people make us feel envious and hostile Andrew Oswald Warwick University

He said: "I'm afraid the respondents are in denial. It's not intentional but rich people make us feel envious and hostile.

"Human beings are envious creatures and that's all there is to it."

His research showed that in controlled experiments, people would rather harm their own prospects of having money than allow someone else to become richer than themselves.

And the public is split over how much ready cash a person needs to have to be considered rich, according to the poll.

A third of people believed a rich person has to have £100,000 or under, while more than half said people with half a million pounds could be considered rich, and only 2% said £10 million was the benchmark sum.

In fact, the World Wealth Report defines the rich as having more than £1 million in ready cash, while the Geneva-based consultancy Loedstar describes the rich as having more than £30 million.