How to Reduce Emotional Effects of Debt: Advice from Psychologists
Everyone faced money worries, but not everyone thought about their effect on mental health. How can the negative effects of financial stress be reduced and what does the research say about this?
We would like to make it quite clear that 1-2 small payday loans in Oregon usually do not affect your mental health. These are short-term, small-dollar loans that you will probably repay very quickly. The impact of loans on the psyche can be discussed with long-term debt obligations, difficult situations (job loss), debt load or delays. A person living on credit constantly experiences a sense of fear – insolvency, job loss, meetings with collectors.
How to reduce loan stress
To reduce the psychological stress, psychologists advise concentrating more on the positive aspects, as well as hedging against an additional source of income so that there is less fear for the future.
Barbara Garcia, psychologist, author of educational programs: “In order to reduce negative impact, it is useful to learn to pay attention to the benefits, not to the need to repay the money. If you give thanks and rejoice every day, the negative effect diminishes. To reduce the fear of losing your job, it is important to have additional earning options. To increase the daily level of joy and satisfaction, it is recommended to plan a vacation, exercise, do what you enjoy.”
It is important not to cheat yourself. The picture in your head is often much darker than the real one.
Whatever the situation, psychologists advise against hiding. It only builds up the feeling of fear.
A person begins to be afraid of any call from an unknown number, be afraid to go outside in the dark, becomes withdrawn and irritable. Contact the bank, explain the situation, try to find a solution to the problem together. For example, ask for a loan extension.
Don’t give up on rest. During breaks at work, on weekends, try not to think about problems. Unload the brain. After that, you will do your work much more efficiently.
The displacement of the locus of control helps a lot. Simply put: take responsibility for your life, stop blaming the economic situation, your family, your employer. It seems that this is easier, but in fact it drives you into a dead end. Take it for granted that only you are in control of your life. Such a position will help you open up new opportunities and prospects that will help to get out of a difficult financial situation.
Does having money reduce stress?
Even very wealthy Americans worry about money so much that it affects their mental health, according to a Bank of America Corp. survey. This was admitted by 59% of wealthy respondents, and another 56% said that financial stress affects their physical health. Moreover, the “generation Z” born after 1995 noted a higher degree of such influence – compared with the generation of baby boomers that formed in the middle of the twentieth century. Here the paradox is at work: young people are more financially literate and therefore more anxious about money.