Money affects your mental health? | Frugal Too Freedom
By: Frugal Too Freedom
Tags: Money, Mental Health, Personal Finance Blog, Personal Finance, Saving Money

Did you know most of the stress you have in your life is related to money?

In this post I am going to share with you 10 ways money can affect your mental health and wellbeing, You know the saying “money makes the world go around” it also can turn your life upside down if you let it.

10 ways on how money can affect your mental health:

1. It affects your ability to work and study

No one can focus on the task at hand when all they can think about is money and how they are going to pay their debt or make ends meet for the month.

Especially if you have people depending on you to care for them financially. This creates a huge burden on your shoulders and affects your ability to work and be productive at your job because you have a split focus.

Constantly thinking of money limits the time you are thinking about your job and performing to the best of your ability.

This is when superiors notice the lack of attention you are contributing and could possibly terminate you.

Studying is already a stressful task and requires your complete attention to succeed and get the grades that you want to achieve, constantly thinking about money and how you are going to pay your fees is a burden and derails your focus making you feeling stressed and worried and demotivates you.

Money can affect your mental health in many ways.

2. It causes stress

Stress is caused when you feeling emotionally and physically tensioned, this tension is triggered when you have feelings of frustration, become angry, or feel nervous.

Stress is your body’s way of reacting to a threat or challenge. It is a natural process but constant stress can create many health problems for you.

Financial stress can be triggered when you feel frustrated because you cannot pay your monthly bills on time or you can’t afford to pay your bills completely.

Money is the ultimate cause of stress also because of the ancillary consequences that can arise from financial issues, Many people who are stressed look for comfort in unhealthy habits that may provide them with instant gratification like:

Feelings of stress can make you feel angry and nervous all the time. Stress can lead to many different illnesses in your body and should be reduced.

If not kept under control stress can prevent you from performing at your job and this can result in a loss of income which can send you on a downward spiral.

Money can affect your mental health by causing unnecessary stress.

More ways money can affect your mental health!

3. It causes Sleep deprivation

What is sleep deprivation?

Sleep deprivation, also known as insufficient sleep or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having enough sleep. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary widely in severity. A chronic sleep-restricted state adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Wikipedia

Are you not getting enough sleep at night, because your mind is constantly working every second thinking about money issues, causing you to float around the like a zombie with no energy or purpose during the day.

Not having enough sleep can wreak havoc on your body and your mental and physical health.

Having a good night sleep has many benefits these are just some of them:

Reduces stress

Improves your memory

Prevents cancer

keeps your heart in a healthy condition

Reduces inflammation

Improves your memory and makes you smarter

Repairs your cells in the body

Improves your immune system

Prevents weight gain

Not getting a good night sleep causes a negative effect on your body like:

Mood changes

Poor memory

Low immunity

High blood pressure

Poor concentration

Diabetes

Weight gain

Poor balance

lethargy

To improve your sleep you can try to improve your financial situation and find the underlying cause of your lack of sleep.

Improving your financial situation will improve your overall health and give you a peaceful night’s sleep. Money can affect your mental health by causing you to have sleep deprivation.

4. Causes Anxiety

A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome Wikipedia

Feelings of anxiety tend to set in when you are unsure about your future or how you are going to pay your bills or where your next meal is going to come from or if you are going to have a roof over your head. This puts pressure on you and causes you to have anxiety.

Money anxiety is real and it does affect many people, if you are one of those people who randomly wake up in the middle of the night and the first thought in your mind is how you are going to pay your debts then you probably have money anxiety.

If you know this is what is causing you to have anxiety issues then you need to find a way to solve your money problems.

More ways money can affect your mental health!

5. It affects your social life, this, in turn, affects your mental health

These days true friends are a few, If you are constantly needing money to socialize this means when you are broke you will not be able to socialize and this will lead to feelings of loneliness.

Loneliness can cause you to feel abandoned and in complete solitude. Apart of living this life is having relationships with other people, we all need one another for support and feelings of community.

Constantly being alone without talking to anyone for days can cause you to become depressed and isolated.

Money can affect your social life in a positive or negative way, it is up to you to decide which way you want it to go.

6. It can destroy relationships

Before asking a friend to borrow money ask yourself which is more important, their friendship or their money.

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Money can destroy relationships and break up marriages, this is most often the case with people who have poor financial management.

Once you borrow money from a friend or family member you can expect never to get the money back again and this causes tension in the relationship and eventually ends the relationship because the trust was broken.

Mental health issues can arise from broken relationships caused by money.

Many people often take for granted that family is there to help you and dig you out of your financial grave but you have to take responsibility for your actions and be responsible for managing your finance.

As an adult we are entirely responsible for the decisions we make, we need to make the right decisions to ensure our relationships don’t suffer. Borrowing money can affect your mental health in a negative way.

7. Emotional distress

This is caused when you feel angry and humiliated because of another person’s bad financial judgment and it affects your life and mental stability.

Living with someone who has no understanding of how to manage money can be very frustrating and will cause you emotional distress.

Signs of an emotionally distressed person are:

Change in personality

Lack of self-care

Withdrawn and quiet

Hopelessness

Agitated

Many people suffer from this and have no idea how to improve the situation, Managing your finances properly will help you to better run your household. The inability to manage your money can affect your mental health.

8. Financial Depression

Most people who are broke are depressed because they do not have money to do the things they want to do. They are in constant need of money and it can become very overwhelming at times.

If you are in a financial depression you need to take a step back and re-evaluate your financial situation.

The things you are currently doing is not working for you, so you need to reassess your finances and prioritize the things that are really important to you. Being depressed about money can affect your mental health.

You need to acknowledge the problem

Change your attitude about money

Seek help from friends and family

Learn how to manage your money

Suffering alone will make the situation worse and cause even more mental health issues to develop in the future.

9. Migraines

Caused by money is a very serious throbbing headache on one side of your head which is normally accompanied by nausea.

Research has shown that people who have money-related stress have regular migraines, The causes of these migraines are linked to money-related issues and strain that they put on themselves, Constantly thinking about money can affect your mental health.

Being poor or broke is a real headache, life itself is extremely stressful with the demands placed on us daily, we are constantly working to please other people at our workplace or in our personal life it can be very draining and exhausting.

10. Mental Health Issues

Did you know more than half of the people in debt have money-related mental health issues? If you already have any pre-existing conditions then financial problems can make it worse.

The constant need to worry about life and money will have an underlying impact on your future health, mental illness will more likely occur with time and the more you stress and worry about money now the more likely these issues could arise in your future.

The strain you place your body under now will show as you grow older and will manifest in your health. Stop stressing about money it can affect your mental health.

Compulsive expenditure is a mental illness that causes you to have irresistible impulses to spend money, You lose complete control of how you spend money and the financial decisions you make.

Leaving you feeling vulnerable and an easy target for someone to take advantage of you.

When you develop mental health issues it will be harder to get a job and earn an income, spend money, and know when to ask for help.

How to manage and prevent financial stress!

Stop letting money affect your mental health.

The first step you can take to prevent money from affecting all aspects of your life is to:

Plan your finances Organize your money Create a budget Learn the difference between needs and wants Get control of your spending Cut out bad habits that are costing you money Acknowledge the amount of debt you have Start paying down this debt Limit your spending Seek help to improve your situation, don’t let money affect your mental health Learn to live within your means Communicate with your family often Have an emergency plan Get financially literate Create a unique savings plan for you Keep track of everything Learn to manage your stress by using techniques to reduce stress Create smart goals these are more achievable Consider life insurance Create a savings account Plan for retirement

In Conclusion, money can affect your mental health in various ways!

Research has shown that people who manage their finances well are less likely to suffer from these conditions as they have a reduced amount of stress.

Their financial plan allows them to be stress-free and make their experience more enjoyable because they know that everything is taken care of.

They have peace of mind and freedom to focus on other things instead of stressing about money!

Create a plan for your life so that money doesn’t have to affect your mental health.

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