It's easy to worry more about your finances than your health. Many say they are handling their stress well. Yet, people report more physical and emotional symptoms. If Americans continue to experience these high levels of stress for prolonged periods of time, they are at risk for developing serious illnesses. Almost half of Americans surveyed said that they are increasingly stressed about their ability to provide for their family's basic needs.
These are Stress Warning Signs:
- Trouble falling asleep
- Inability to concentrate at work
- Feelings of irritability, quick to anger
- Exhaustion and fatigued
- Lack of interest or motivation
- Gastrointestinal problems
Recognizing and admitting to suffering from stress is definitely the first step to recovery. When you understand why you're acting and feeling stressed you can then gradually make constructive changes in your lifestyle to overcome it. Researchers recommend the following tips to help families get back on top of their finances:
- Identify your financial facts. Before tackling any problem, you must first fully understand it. Do a monthly inventory of all expenditures and compare this to your monthly earnings.
- Identify your sources of financial stress and make a plan. Examine your particular financial situation and what causes you worry.
- Come up with a family budget to address your financial concerns and review it regularly.
- Discriminate between what you want and what you truly need. In difficult financial times, restrict purchases to necessities.
- Consider learning new skills that will enable you to earn more money. Is there a hobby or something you enjoy doing that could be leveraged into a business opportunity?
- Beware of credit spending. Purchasing on credit should be avoided at all cost unless it's an emergency.
Find tips like this and more resources in the Attacking Anxiety & Depression program was developed by Lucinda Bassett, and Dr. Philip Fisher, MD, who leveraged the skills, methods and techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Modification as the core of the self-treatment process.
Since 1983, the program has helped over 1.4 million people to recover from acute stress, anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive worry, and depression.
We invite you to visit Stresscenter to learn more. If you are already benefitting from the program, there are DVDs and even coaching sessions available to continue on your path of living well.