Stress due to lack of money is the gateway to various problems that affect people physically and mentally. How it affects them and tips to reduce it.

In life, there are many factors that affect people's physical and mental health. Performing or not performing certain actions can directly affect each of these conditions. One of these primary factors (but not the only one) is the state of one's finances.

Studies, experts and organizations determine that if this financial factor fails, the balance sheet collapses and can have major consequences. According to a report by the American Psychological SocietyFor example, constant anxiety about money can lead to “high-risk behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse, overeating, sedentary behavior, stress, and sleep disturbances that contribute to worsening people’s mental and physical health, and even lead to suicide.”  

This behavior has a reason for being and has a name: “financial stress.” In conversation with Make sure you live, Neuropsychologist Gabriela González Alemán, Executive Director at Brainpoints, PhD in Behavioral Genetics (UBA) and Researcher in Neuroscience applied to Well-being, explains what it is about:

“When a person suffers from it, the stress circuit and the cortisol chain are triggered. This causes Anxiety increases and mental and physical health may not be in order. You feel so vulnerable when you have financial problems, that both the feeling of vulnerability and the fear of lacking things increases,” she explains.

In this way, internally generated stress produces –according to the doctor- “difficulties sleeping, decreases the activity of the immune system (therefore, it is more vulnerable to viral infections); increases cardiovascular risk; generates depression; or, simply, the person is more irritable, sadder, in a bad mood. The latter affects interpersonal relationships,” she details. 

Despite these consequences resulting from the internal reaction of the system, the expert highlights that, in itself, stress is “positive” because what it does is “help us to face situations that are dangerous.” And she clarifies: “Sometimes economic or financial problems do not represent a real problem in the short term. It may be something that is resolved in a matter of time, but for the person, at that moment, it is experienced as an intensely dangerous situation that makes them vulnerable.”

The key to balance

There is a saying that the first step to a solution is to recognize the problem. Therefore, a great first step to achieving the desired economic balance is to find out where the problem is. 

“First, you have to try to see what aspect of my financial life is causing me this stress. Being able to identify what it is, where I am making a mistake in my finances or am I managing them poorly at this moment,” explains González Alemán.

Once you have discovered what the “stone in your shoe” was, it is time to start acting. From the team at  SURA Insurance Financial Health They made a series of recommendations to act appropriately, improve finances and thus optimize mental and physical health: 

• Consume consciously and reflect on habits. Seguros SURA recommends asking yourself about your personal and family consumption habits and correcting those that go against balance. Are my purchases proportional to what I need? Do I know how to control my cravings? These are key questions to ask yourself and avoid making unnecessary purchases. 
• Create a budget and prioritize according to possibilities. Knowing your own and your family's income and expenses helps you identify your financial situation and allows you to come up with strategies to secure the present and aim for a more peaceful financial future. To do this, it will be important to make a budget and define what expenses you want to keep, incorporate, improve or eliminate, according to your current priorities. In this case, you should include your income, expenses, financial commitments and savings. 
• Be aware when using public services. By spending more time at home, people will probably increase their consumption of public services and, therefore, the costs they must pay. On this occasion, Seguros SURA recommends “turning off lights that are not being used and favouring natural lighting, disconnecting electronic devices that are turned off, recycling water from the washing machine and bathing for less time”.
• Organize your purchases well. Before going shopping or ordering food for delivery, it is advisable for people to take an inventory of the products they have at home and write a list of what they really need. This will prevent them from buying more or throwing away perishable foods that they do not consume. In addition, it is important to establish a maximum number of meals to order for delivery or home delivery. When you cook at home, you save and optimize the ingredients you have on hand.
• Seek advice on savings and investments. Before making decisions about investment and savings products, such as severance pay, voluntary contributions, pension funds or trusts, it is very important to research the country's economic outlook and seek a financial advisor who can provide a broader view of the market. Being informed means valuing the effort that people have put into building their savings and assets.
• Buy local. When entrepreneurs are supported, it contributes to the reactivation of markets and contributes to the economy of your region. For this reason, Seguros SURA recommends seeking initiatives from local producers who distribute products or local restaurants that offer home delivery services. These actions will be a source of income for those who have had to reinvent their business models.

Leidy Johanna Mesa Gil, Financial Health Leader at Seguros SURA Colombia, maintains that “the physical, mental and financial health of an individual cannot be viewed in a fragmented way.”

“People’s financial behavior can trigger changes in their mental health or physical health,” Mesa Gil adds. Therefore, the specialist reinforces, “good financial behavior helps people to have greater peace of mind, better mental health and the ability to reason better when making decisions.”

The leader in Financial Health explains that “there are many inputs and elements that have been worked on by Seguros SURA in order to clarify the link between poor financial behavior associated with stress, fatigue, insomnia and concentration difficulties.” For this reason, all Seguros SURA products consider the financial factor as a key pillar of the health and emotional balance of its clients.