Financial Stress and its impact on your mental health
With interest rates rising and the cost of living sky rocketing financial stress is affecting most of us in many different ways. Some people are struggling to pay bills, feed the family, or maintain a place to live. Whilst others are meeting their basic needs but are needing to dip into their savings for extras.
By understanding and finding ways to reduce our financial stress – and its emotional impact on us – can help make this challenging time a bit easier.
So lets take a look first about what is financial stress?
Every stress has two components and in finances they are:
objective - factual situations where you don’t have enough funds to cover necessary expenses or debts
subjective - yours or others perceptions about your current or future finances
These two are related and they are personal to your situation. Someone can have trouble meeting their expenses, view this as acceptable, and not be overly worried. Alternatively, someone may be reasonably financially secure but still feel quite stressed about their finances.
The health impacts can be severe
High levels of financial stress can impact people’s wellbeing, raising levels of psychological distress, anxiety and depression.
There is clear evidence for a link between financial stress and depression. However, the perception of your financial situation matters here too. Studies show it is not just someone’s financial situation that is linked to their wellbeing, but also how satisfied they were with their wealth status.
What can I do about it?
While we can’t change the broader financial landscape or some aspects of our financial situation, there are some simple ways to help reduce financial stress and its impacts.
1. Take small steps
Try to identify elements of your finances you can improve and act on some of them, even if they are small steps. This may include creating and following a budget, cutting some extra costs, applying for available financial assistance, getting quotes for more affordable utilities or insurance, or contemplating a career change. Even little changes can improve your financial state over time. Taking action in a difficult situation can improve wellbeing by giving you a greater sense of control over the situation.
2. Check your take on the situation
Examine your perspective. Are you often seeing the negative aspects of your situation but ignoring the positive ones? Are you worrying a lot about very unlikely situations far off in the future? It’s worth checking whether your perceptions about your financial situation are accurate and balanced.
3. Don’t be too hard on yourself
Your financial state does not reflect your value as a person, and over-identifying with your financial status can lead to further stress. Financial difficulties are the result of many factors, only some of which are under your control. Reminding yourself that your finances do not define you as a person can reduce feelings of sadness, shame or guilt.
4. Take care of yourself
It’s draining dealing with ongoing financial stress. So focus on self-care and coping strategies that have helped you with past stressors. This may mean taking some time out to relax, deep breathing or meditation, talking with others and doing some things for fun. Giving yourself permission to take this time can improve your mood, perspective and wellbeing.
5. Ask for help
If you are struggling financially or psychologically, seek help. This may take the form of financial advice or assistance to reduce financial difficulties. If you notice yourself feeling persistently down, anxious, or hopeless get help from a mental health professional.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know book a session with us today. If you have serious concerns call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
