Many families can attest to the negative impact ongoing worry about their financial situation can have, not only on parents’ emotional health, but also their physical health.
Roughly 10-16 million people suffering terribly due to their debts, according to Research Psychologist Paul Lavrakas. (5) It’s important that we recognize the mental and physical symptoms of debt stress on ourselves and on our kids, and make the lifestyle changes necessary.
Definition and Symptoms of Debt Stress
Debt stress (also known as economic stress) can be the product of:
(a) the inability to pay bills
(b) the uncertainty of income sources, due to job loss, divorce, retirement, or disability
(c) the instability of employment
(d) the inadequacy of earnings to meet the family’s needs and desires (2)
Symptoms of debt stress can include:
• Worry, nervousness, tension, anxiety, pressure
• Depression
• Insomnia and other sleep disorders
• Headaches/migraines
• High blood pressure
• Stomach, abdominal or digestive issues including ulcers, appetite disorders and associated weight gain or loss
• Fatigue, lack of energy
• Increased drug, alcohol or cigarette use
• Sicknesses or general feeling of being unwell
Facts about Debt Stress
The Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances estimates that more than three out of every four American families are in debt (1), while a 2008 Associated Press-AOL poll reported that those people who reported high debt stress suffered “from a range of stress-related illnesses including ulcers, migraines, back pain, anxiety, depression, and heart attacks.” (1)
The ethnic minority groups and female-headed household are most hard hit by debt stress.
Ethnic minority groups have lower income earnings and greater rates of poverty when compared to white families. Female-headed households which are most prevalent among blacks followed by Hispanics, whites and Asians, experience on average lower incomes and higher rates of poverty.
Thus these families are more likely to suffer greater levels of depression, lower life satisfaction, morale, and psychological distress associated with their chronic financial situation.
Female-headed households also face increased barriers to sustainable finances such as an estimated 30-50 percent drop in family income, and a 20-30 percent drop in per capita income following a divorce, as well as job discrimination, limited labor force participation due to childbearing, inconsistent child support, and child care costs. (2)
How Debt Stress Affects Families
Debt stress triggers the “fight or flight” instinct and can make it more difficult for parents to calmly respond and deal with our children’s day-to-day challenges. High levels of stress and anxiety can also lead to poor quality sleep or insomnia, which in turn can suppress your immune system, making your body take longer to heal, and can reduce reaction time, thinking and creativity and, by extension, productivity. (1)
Not only that, but Jay Winner, MD, author of "Take the Stress Out of Your Life", says that if people don’t learn to manage their situation to decrease their stress -- in this case, financial stress -- then as stress continues to build, the body can start to experience physical and physiologic changes. Such changes include having a knot in the stomach or feelings of anxiety and worry a lot of the time. (1)
Even though kids can’t always put a finger on what’s bothering mom or dad, if the attitude in the house and family is mostly irritability, uncertainty and chronic worrying, they will learn that this is normal for a household environment, and that this level of stress as also normal.
The impact of these stressful family situations is measurable in school performance and life success of our children.
“A decade-long study at the Iowa State University Institute for Social and Behavioral Research has shown that children who experience socioeconomic adversity at an early age are at increased risk for experiencing mental health challenges during their teen years. The study finds that young people from poor families are particularly vulnerable to becoming ‘trapped in the self-perpetuating cycle of adverse life circumstances and poor health.’” (5)
Since each family’s situation is unique, it’s hard to give a pat, fix-all answer that will solve your money issues. But we can start, at least, to make better decisions with our money now. We can avoid the trap of pay-day loans. We can learn better money management skills and go without some non-essential.
If we start to do these things so that our children can have essential life skills for the future, not only will we be better mentally and physically equipped to manage our families, but we will increase our children’s chances of life success.
Sources:
1. The Debt-Stress Connection. Soong, Jennifer. WebMD. Web. Accessed: Aug 24, 2014.
http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/the-debt-stress-connection
2. Families and Individuals Coping with Financial Stress. University of Wyoming. Web. Accessed: Aug 24, 2014.
http://eruralfamilies.uwagec.org/ERFLibrary/Readings/CopingWithFinancialStress.pdf
3. Negative Health Effects of Financial Stress. O’Neill, Barbara, et. al. Consumer Interests Annual. Vol 51, 2005. Web. Accessed: Aug 24, 2014.
http://www.personalfinancefoundation.org/research/efd/Negative-Health-Effects-of-Financial-Stress.pdf
4. The Emotional Effects of Debt. Fay, Bill. Debt.org. Web. Accessed: Aug 24, 2014.
http://www.debt.org/advice/emotional-effects
5. Financial Stress and Its Physical Effects on Individuals and Communities. Choi, Laura. Community Development Investment Review. Web. Accessed: Aug 24, 2014.
http://www.frbsf.org/community-development/files/choi.pdf
Reviewed September 1, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith