{"id":20156,"date":"2023-01-23T13:49:41","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T18:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/?p=20156"},"modified":"2023-03-03T14:45:52","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T19:45:52","slug":"how-can-financial-problems-impact-your-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/advice\/how-can-financial-problems-impact-your-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Financial Problems Impact Your Mental Health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to <\/span>unprecedented levels of economic uncertainty<\/span><\/a>. While the US labor market has rebounded since 2020, money remains a significant source of worry for many Americans. Media reports about mass tech industry layoffs, a looming recession and inflation may be intensifying these concerns.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Financial stress often contributes to overall feelings of anxiety and depression. In turn, mental health problems can affect financial wellness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are ways that financial stress might be affecting your wellbeing and vice versa, and what you can do about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Finances are a leading cause of stress<\/h2>\n

If money woes are making you tense, you\u2019re not alone. In a <\/span>2022 survey<\/span><\/a> from the American Psychological Association, more than 80 percent of adults reported that inflation is a source of stress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of those who are stressed about rising prices, most worry about having enough money to pay for basic needs. Slightly more than half said financial stress has led to family fights or tension.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those results align with <\/span>Capital One\u2019s 2022 CreditWise survey<\/span><\/a>, which found that finances were the No. 1 cause of stress (73 percent) among respondents \u2014 more than politics (59 percent), work (49 percent) and family (46 percent). Finances are especially stressful for Gen Z (82 percent) and millennials (81 percent).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The money and mental health connection<\/h2>\n

Our relationship to money can have serious impacts on our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Often, there is a cyclical connection between financial and mental health problems, in which one continuously worsens the other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly half of people in debt also have a mental health problem, and 1 in 5 people with mental health problems are in debt, according to the UK-based <\/span>Money and Mental Health Policy Institute<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a 2022 <\/span>study in the <\/span>Journal of Aging and Health<\/span><\/i><\/a>, researchers found that those who were often unemployed in their mid- to late 20s and early 30s had poorer physical and<\/span> mental health by age 50 compared to those who experienced very little unemployment over the course of their careers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Financial difficulties can affect your mental health in multiple ways:<\/span><\/p>\n