Information sheet: Money Worries
Money Worries
We all need money
It is difficult to survive without it. As children we never had to think about it: our parents and carers obtained the money that provided for our needs. Had it not been for the support of our circle of family and friends we would have been reduced to begging and living off our wits, as children in some societies are forced to.
Why do we worry about money?
Having money has become inseparable from the satisfaction of our needs and desires; therefore, if we are short of money, our most urgent thoughts concern ways of getting it. The mental activity of planning and budgeting may distract us to some extent from the full impact of our feelings of deprivation. However, if there is nobody we can share these feelings with we will tend to dwell on them constantly, sinking into a downward spiral of nagging thoughts, emotional distress and physical tensions.
Continuous shortage of money is suffered by some people
Unsurprisingly, those on low incomes claim to be less happy than those on high incomes. It has been shown that people on the bottom of the economic pile suffer more frequently from stress-related conditions (such as anxiety and depression), illnesses (such as stomach ulcers and heart disease) and behaviours (such as crime and drug and alcohol abuse). However, being at the bottom of the pile doesn't automatically lead to distress, disease and dysfunctional behaviour. Our health and happiness depend to a large extent on the quantity and quality of our social contacts. Where people belong to close supportive groups they enjoy camaraderie, compassion and mutual help, and stress-related problems are less common.
We are unable to ignore our lack of money
If we lived in a society that had little contact with the outside world, we would hardly realise that many people are better off than ourselves. However, this awareness is now inescapable as a result of travel, newspapers, radio, television and the internet. Now that we are all equally aware of a richer world we feel a sense of envy, or even injustice. Our desires are relentlessly stimulated by the media and advertising. We can feel short of money and hence inadequate if we lack ideal homes, top-of-the-range cars, exotic holidays, select brand-labelled clothes, state-of-the-art computers and televisions, and the very latest in entertainments. We have been led to believe that money can buy health and happiness. We forget that it is pos-sible to be actually happy when there is simply an adequate meeting of our basic needs.
The perils of poverty can be far-reaching
When we cannot satisfy our own and our loved ones' needs for food, warmth and shelter, we can easily feel desperate. Lacking a car, we have to depend on often costly and unreliable forms of public transport. Our social contacts are limited when they can only be made at the price of a drink. The cost of entertainment can be prohibitive: a TV license, admission charges to cinemas, theatres, concerts, dance clubs, football matches, etc., may be beyond our pockets. Financial exclusion from public venues narrows our scope for meeting a member of the opposite or same sex. Poverty can compound loneliness.
We may apply for immediate financial help through the social security system – a process that can be time-consuming, boring and frustrating. It is all too easy to be refused benefit because we have incorrectly filled out a complicated form or failed to satisfy some small technicality. Payments may arrive late or be cancelled unex-pectedly, or one's entitlement might suddenly be cancelled.
The perils of debt can undermine our lives
Poverty can bring us close to or actually into debt. Redundancies, sackings, rising mortgage rates, falling home values, collapsed pension plans, student loan repayments, Child Support Agency demands – problems such as these might make us doubt whether we can live any kind of a fulfilled life.
Debt can be as much a problem for the haves as for the have-nots: whether our income is great or small, the "cost of living" can seem to consume every penny. Bombarded by persuasive offers from credit card and loan companies we may, even if our income is high, find ourselves drawn into a spiral of ever-increasing debt and hopeless-ness.
Anxiety can result from money worries
Upon realising that we are seriously short of money, we immediately undertake a mental search for some solution to the problem. We think of where and to whom we might go for advice and practical help.
We may be surprised if it is pointed out that this stage of practical thinking was in fact the second stage of the reaction process. We will have already experienced, largely unconsciously, a primary phase of anxiety in the moment when we were first startled by the realisation of our monetary lack. Breath will have been held and muscles will have been tensed; the heart will have raced and confusion will have resulted from a reduction of oxygenated blood-flow to the brain. A very short while later, the second stage of reaction begins as we attempt to resolve our mental confusion.
Can Counselling & Therapy help with the emotional and physical effects of money worries?
In addition to the immediate difficulties, money worries can lead to a falling-away of emotional, mental and physical energy. When our basic needs are thwarted, breathing tends to become reduced, mus-cles tense, and long-term feelings of anxiety and depression can develop. However, as soon as we have shared the problem and got it off our chest, we can begin to realise that the process of worrying is a separate issue that can be dealt with by ourselves. Counselling & Therapy can help us find the natural resources to release worries that have become embedded in us. We can then literally breathe more easily and gain the mental, emotional and physical energy to deal with worries – monetary and otherwise – that come our way.