Is your anxiety directly linked to your personal debt?
Is your anxiety directly linked to your personal debt?
Consumer debt just reached an all-time high of $3.9 TRILLION. That includes $1 trillion in credit card debt; $1.1 trillion in student loans and $1.5 trillion in auto loans. Not to mention Home Equity is also at an all-time high of $14.9 trillion; an eye popping increase of 100% since 2000. With number this staggering it’s no big secret that our personal debt directly impacts the anxiety we feel. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety. Financial worries are a massive trigger for those disorders.
Responding to Debt
Does debt cause anxiety, or vice versa?
Yes.
Research has found that worrying about debt leads to anxiety, which minimizes your resilience against emotional and mental health problems.
Additional studies point to the fact that emotional health problems decrease self-control, increase spending and skews a person’s financial judgment. Regardless of how someone falls behind, being in debt can trigger unsettling emotional responses.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety, or extreme apprehension and worry, is a normal reaction to stressful situations. But in some cases, it becomes excessive and can cause sufferers to dread everyday situations.
This type of steady, all-over anxiousness is called Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Other anxiety-related disorders include panic attacks—severe episodes of anxiety which happen in response to specific triggers—and obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is marked by persistent intrusive thoughts or compulsions to carry out specific behaviors (such as hand-washing).
It so frequently co-occurs with depression that the two are thought to be twin faces of one disorder. Like depression, it strikes twice as many females as males.
Generally, anxiety arises first, often during childhood. Evidence suggests that both biology and environment can contribute to the disorder. Some people may have a genetic predisposition to anxiety; however, this does not make development of the condition inevitable. Early traumatic experiences can also reset the body’s normal fear-processing system so that it is hyper-reactive to stress.
The exaggerated worries and expectations of negative outcomes in unknown situations that typify anxiety are often accompanied by physical symptoms. These include muscle tension, headaches, stomach cramps, and frequent urination. Behavioral therapies, with or without medication to control symptoms, have proved highly effective against anxiety, especially in children. (courtesy of Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/anxiety)
Anxiousness can seriously affect your health. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, research suggests that you may run a higher risk of experiencing physical health problems, too. So when you manage your anxiety, you’re also taking care of your physical health and your financial health as well. In addition 72% of Americans said they felt stressed about money, according to an American Psychological Association study. And 22% said they felt “extreme” stress over their finances.
Are you in Debt Denial?
You may be in debt denial if you are doing the following:
• Underestimating how much you owe.
• Not answering the phone when you suspect a collection agency is calling.
• Leaving bills unopened or just stuffing them in a drawer.
• Opening a new credit card when your old one is maxed out.
• Telling yourself that everyone is in the same situation.
This denial results in more debt as interest charges and late fees build up.
What to do?
Great news! Relief over Anxiety and debt is relatively simple.
Get out of debt. This is easier said than done, of course. However, build a plan and execute it,
Speak with a Credit Counselor – Credit counselors work with them to set up a budget, and they work with creditors to reduce interest rates. That mountain of depressing bills is consolidated into one monthly payment, and the non-profit agency distributes the funds to creditors.
So, if debt is driving you crazy, take heart. Solutions for your credit woes are within reach.
Identify all your causes of Emotion
By taking a simple life-changing assessment known as the Temperament Test you can greatly reduce even eliminate the anxiety that plagues you. This amazingly accurate test will determine your needs for socialization, control, power, love and affection, As well as, your intellectual energies and what triggers anger, stress, anxiety, depression and inner satisfaction.
By completing this assessment and review by a Licensed Counselor will guide you body, spirit and soul in complete balance and harmony.
