5 Tips to Prevent and Battle Health Risks that Come with Financial Stress
- Written by Sophia Smith
Talking about money is not easy, especially if you’re going through a rough patch, and if your bank account has taken a hit in recent months or years. Nevertheless, it’s important that you acknowledge the problem and tackle it head-on, otherwise it will permeate your every thought, and every waking minute of your day-to-day life. Yes, financial stress is that hard, and the sooner you recognize that it’s taking a toll on your mental and physical well-being, the better.
Aside from some essential financial tips you should read up on, today we are also going to talk about the impact of financial stress on your overall health and long-term well-being, how money trouble is affecting your life, and what you can do right now to shift the tide. Let’s dive in.
Understanding how financial stress affects your health
It should come as no surprise that financial stress has a direct correlation to emotional, psychological, and even physical stress. After all, money is one of the top things people worry about, and the more you worry, the more you start to adopt unhealthy lifestyle habits, your mind becomes a blur, and your mood starts to diminish with each passing day. This is why, over the years, researchers have linked financial stress to numerous mental and physical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, migraines, insomnia, depression and mood swings, cancer, and more.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Research conducted in Helsinki concluded that people who suffered from chronic stress at work were at a higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Combined, all of these and many other conditions related to financial stress can significantly lower your quality of life in the long term.
Your mental health will suffer as well
Financial stress primarily affects your emotional and psychological health, so there is a need to separate these issues from physical conditions in order to understand the true risks financial burdens pose, and how to develop an effective plan to prevent or overcome them in the future. From developing migraines and an occasional nagging headache, all the way to falling into the abyss of depression, crippling anxiety, and insecurity, worrying about money can, to put it bluntly, ruin your life.
Through decades of research, studies have found time and time again links between financial stress and mental conditions, all of which can have a snowball effect on your life if you allow mental conditions to pull you towards unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, gambling, drinking, or worse. With all of this in mind, let’s move on to the most important things you should do to overcome financial stress and avoid related health risks.
The importance of insurance for long-term health
First things first, it’s important to understand that you can’t hope to start rebuilding your life and finances if you constantly worry about your health, or if you’re suffering from chronic physical or mental conditions, whether they are related to your financial troubles or not. The truth of the matter is that paying for medical expenses can be difficult if not downright impossible sometimes, which will only fuel the mental stress and anxiety.
This is why you need proper coverage, especially against serious medical conditions such as cancer insurance if you are to stop worrying about what might happen, and start focusing on getting out of your financial rut. What’s more, the right insurance policy will help you fund your treatment and focus on getting better without succumbing to the stress of trying to find ways to pay for medical bills. Once you’re insured, you can move on to the next step.
Analyze your spending habits
There’s always something you can cut back on in order to save some extra money or reallocate cash flow towards a better investment. If you have some unhealthy habits such as smoking or drinking, or even shopping in general, now’s the time to cut it out of your life for good and direct your finances towards building a stable future – which will directly improve your mental and physical health. Consider investing in a pension plan, a savings account, or saving to launch your own business, buy a new computer or enlist in a class to better your career, and anything else that might help you on the path to success.
Create a long-term financial plan
And finally, you need a feasible long-term financial plan that you can stick to if you are to build a stable future. Be sure to list out your mid and long-term goals, after which you can analyze the costs associated with each. What you might find is that you need to start saving now to reach certain goals, but more importantly, this will incentivize you to apply yourself and seek better employment in order to reach your goals as quickly as possible.
Wrapping up
Financial stress and mental and physical health are directly correlated, which is why you need to acknowledge that your financial troubles are negatively affecting your overall health. After that, you can apply what you’ve read today to create a great long-term plan and build a financially-stable future for you and your loved ones.
