World events and recent political decisions both at home and abroad have meant an escalation in the cost of living for all, increasing and widening the poverty gap by a considerable margin.
When this happens, and it has been repeated across time, and across history, scientists and analysts begin to seen trends in mental health and well-being in direct correlation to the ever increasing costs of affordable, comfortable and reasonable standards that we hope to achieve as a baseline society in a modern community, thriving on technology and innovation.
There is a clear cycle. Worrying about money makes mental health and well-being worse and poor mental health and well-being makes managing money worries harder.
According to MIND there are several ways that money concerns can directly impact your mental health:
You might feel stressed and anxious over money or financial concerns
You might lose sleep
You might stop being able to afford necessities like food, heating, electricity, gas etc
You might be unable to pay for social activities with friends or family and so isolate yourself furthering depression
You might experience feelings of guilt, shame, stress, worry, or fear
Some pre-existing mental health conditions can be exacerbated by money concerns. A whopping 72% of people in the UK said that their mental health problems had made their money worries worse, or dealing with money harder.
Ongoing stress associated with money worries can also make treatments for mental health conditions more difficult. A study carried out by ‘Money and Mental Health’ indicated that as little as 22% of people who were under extreme ongoing financial stress responded to mental health treatment, whereas in removing financial stress those with mental health challenges responded up to 55%.
For more information on money and mental health, you can refer here,
Most recent statistics on how our mental health is impacted by our money. Click here to see some tips on how to manage your finances and how it can affect your mental health.
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