It’s quite common for many of us to stress over managing our money and expenses. If you don’t keep a close eye on your spending, you could spend too much and compromise your financial health. However, the anxiety induced by worrying over our finances can be overwhelming and have long-lasting effects on our mental health. The stress of handling your money can not impact your financial health but also your mental health.
This article takes a look at how money and mental health influence each other and some steps you can take to grow financially and psychologically healthier.
Your Money Affecting Your Mental Health
Four in ten people facing mental health problems stated that their financial struggles worsened their mental health problems. Having financial literacy means having money management skills and knowing how to put them to effective use. People who are financially literate have a more positive outlook on their future.
If you’re not financially savvy enough, juggling your monthly bills, yearly taxes, and student loan debts can seem extremely overwhelming and confusing. The resulting anxiety from trying to pay all your bills could affect your interpersonal relationships, cause physical ailments like headaches, back pain, and stomach aches, and even cause you to hoard all your money.
For some of us, money problems are a source of shame and embarrassment, and we may not want to admit that we cannot afford basic necessities needed to survive. It could also bring about feelings of envy and insecurity, especially when we see financially secure individuals living comfortable and glamorous lives.
Stressing over managing your finances can negatively impact your mental and emotional well-being. You could feel fatigued, confused, and hopeless about your future prospects.
Your Mental Health Affecting Your Money
Your struggles with mental health influence how you earn, save, and spend money. If you’re having a bad day, you could experience decreased productivity and may need to take off work. This could indirectly affect your pay, especially if your employers are unsupportive.
Indulging in impulsive or compulsive shopping can also wreak havoc on your finances. When you buy something to make yourself feel better or distract yourself from your emotions, you’re making irrational decisions that could negatively impact your financial health.
Struggling with mental health issues also means that you have additional medical expenses. Your therapy bills, medications, hospital treatments, and other such things could add to your financial burdens and influence your financial decisions. Thus, your mental health affects your ability to make and manage money.
How to Break the Cycle
While sensibly managing your finances and ensuring your long-term mental health may seem like an impossible and bleak prospect right now, we urge you not to lose hope. You could take small steps to ensure that the relationship between your money and your mental health grows more positive.
Start by paying off your high-interest debt. Large debts can hang over your head for a long time and put a damper on your spirits. So focus all your efforts on getting rid of large debts by making large monthly payments and paying off all your credit card bills on time.
You can also set a budget and monitor spending to identify buying behaviors and patterns. Whenever possible, automate your payments so that you don’t have to worry about making time in your day to settle all your bills.
Also, set aside money for an emergency fund. This could help reduce any stress or anxiety you have about not being able to financially handle an emergency situation that demands a lot of money.
If you’re looking for qualified experts to provide sound financial advice, contact our skilled team at Briteside Solutions. We have a heartfelt commitment to making our clients financial experts through empowering education, practical benefits, and consumer protection. You can call us at (888) 851-0646 if you have further questions.