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How to stay healthy when financial hardship strikes
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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There is little pleasant in financial problems, and often budget gaps provoke stress, aggression, overeating and alcohol abuse. In difficult times for the wallet, the main thing is not only to find a way to fix the situation, but also not to harm your health.
Don't try to hide your predicament.
Trying to hide your financial plight from others is the worst thing you can do in your current situation, according to financial experts and psychologists. Unfortunately, this behavior is very common among people in difficult financial situations, explains Lisa Gold, a professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University. There is nothing shameful about having money problems at the moment.
Talk about it
"All humans are social creatures and depend on social relationships," says Dr. Simon Perot, a psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. "Rather than trying to carry the weight of your problems on your own, reach out to your loved ones for support."
Accept what is
“You have to first acknowledge the situation and accept it for what it is,” says Stephen Josephson, MD, a research fellow at New York University. “We experience pain and loss throughout our lives, so you have to accept it and never despair.”
Turn off self-flagellation
"In difficult times, when things are not so sweet, the critic inside us awakens, which only adds fuel to the fire. Self-flagellation will not achieve anything, but will only worsen the already unenviable situation, so try to peacefully coexist with your critical "I", so you can make more efforts to improve the situation," comments Dr. Gold.
Live in the present
"Worry about the future and spend less time looking back at the past to see where you made mistakes and made wrong moves," says financial expert Brad Klontz. "Only in the present can you make changes to avoid similar problems in the future."
Physical activity and friends
“When nothing brings joy, a person closes himself off, as if in a shell, and rejects almost all the joys of the surrounding world,” says Dr. Josephson. “Ultimately, this can lead to severe stress and prolonged depression. So do not avoid communicating with friends, spend more time outdoors and spend time actively.”
Understand the cause of all the problems
"Self-criticism is a bad habit, but sometimes it can be useful. For example, in order to understand what led you to such a problem and where its origins come from, says Dr. Simon Perot, - Analyze your situation and start taking steps to improve your relationship with money."
Less passivity
Depression will not take long to appear if you spend time in a state of absolute passivity, for example, watching TV. By the way, psychologists claim that such a pastime can lead not only to depression, but also to more serious disorders, because television literally saturates us with negative information, causing anxiety, panic and aggression.
Alcohol and drugs
In a state of stress, a person can experience not only mental but also physical symptoms. Often, people in this state complain of muscle pain, headaches, irritability and reflux disease. Alcohol or drugs will not help to dull these pains and provide relief. Turning to a glass for help is the worst of evils, only aggravating the situation and destroying your health.
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