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It's Monday morning again.
If you have a job, it's the beginning of another work week. You may love your job or dislike it, but either way you're probably more grateful to have it than ever before. (Even if you are worried as to how secure it really is.)
If you don't have a job, it's another week when perhaps you're looking for
a job, trying to convince someone to hire you, to give you a chance. You are working hard to make ends meet, and wondering how and when it will all work out. You are tired of classified ads and filled with stress. If you have children, you're even more worried for them.
And regardless of which scenario is true for you, you're probably feeling more anxiety than you're used to. You may be sleeping poorly. You may be retreating socially, or seeing changes in your weight.
The New York Times recently wrote a story about how the recession, and the constant job losses, home foreclosures and company closings are affecting people regardless of their own status:
"Anxiety, depression and stress are troubling people everywhere," the story said, "many not suffering significant economic losses, but worrying they will or simply reacting to pervasive uncertainty.
"Some are seeking counseling or medication for the first time. Others are resuming or increasing treatment, or redirecting therapy for other issues onto economic anxiety."
In the story, therapists and psychiatrists were seeing higher numbers of patients. Suicide hot lines were getting more calls. Substance abuse workers have seen an increase. And even people not directly affected by the downturn are suffering panic attacks and sleeplessness, primarily in reaction to the loss of control they feel over the effects of the economy.
Here's the story in the Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/health/09stress.html?ref=health
How about you? How have you been affected by the economy, either physically or mentally? Can you share the things you do to help yourself feel better?
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Add a Comment2 Comments
I think everyone is economy motivated lately. There are several things I do to cut costs in the house. I hardly ever watch television so I turned off my cable television the other day. I don't use my home telephone so I had that turned off. Everyday, I pray and hope that I have job security but everyone is at risk.
I live day by day and hope for the best. It is certainly hard times and worse when we have to look at statistics all the time that shows that our economy is bombarded with the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. We can only hope for the best and take on a new challenge if we lose our jobs.
It is what we do today (save money) that will be our success story in the future. I read an article once that said to have enough money saved up to survive and pay all your bills for 6 months. I know that seems far fetched for some people but the idea is clear, we may need that cushion to support the loss. Trying to be prepared now will certainly help us in the future. Maybe we can even support the new President in his fight for a better economy, he has a long hard job ahead of him.
April 18, 2009 - 10:50amThis Comment
It helps to feel like I have some control over things when I cut coupons, turn out lights, eat in rather than out, mend clothes instead of buying new, work on building a savings account, etc., basically do the things that I should have all been doing all along. And I hope that by seeing me save money willingly, my kids will adopt that attitude at this age rather than learning the hard lessons many adults are learning now.
April 13, 2009 - 8:08amThis Comment