Financial Instability Is a Mental Health Crisis
The only place I learned about financial trauma was in therapy
My eyes are hot and tearful. I’m trembling, as my gasps for air grow increasingly difficult. I’m trapped. I can’t move. The words “I’m a failure” repeat in my mind incessantly as I stare at my bank account’s negative balance. I’ve experienced panic attacks countless times over the years. The cause is most often money.
Financial stress is an underrecognized cause of mental health challenges. For many marginalized communities, my own included, financial instability is a mental health crisis. Data from the American Psychological Association shows that people often cite money as a top contributor to their overall stress and that anxiety about money is most likely to occur among people with lower incomes. Yet talking about money remains taboo, and discussions of mental health and self-care rarely include tangible ways to deal with the unique agony of financial struggles or the structural injustices that financial stressors stem from. Experts say financial stress should be viewed as a potential trauma in a person’s life, and mental health professionals can play a role in how that trauma is treated.
The risk for widespread financial trauma is especially high right now. The Covid-19 pandemic is introducing many people…
