Anxiety disorders can be very difficult to deal with. You may find that anxiety impacts your everyday life, whether that’s completing tasks, meeting new people, or progressing in your career.
Additionally, anxiety can affect your ability to manage relationships, friendships, work/life balance, and even your finances. So, let’s take a closer look at how anxiety impacts our lives and our finances.
How Can Anxiety Impact Your Life
Anxiety disorders can change the way you think and your mental well-being. In some cases, you may suffer from anxiety in social settings, or you may stress about work pressures and relationship troubles. It is normal to deal with small amounts of anxiety. However, for other people, anxiety can negatively impact them in larger ways. For instance, some people may suffer from panic attacks, have trouble concentrating, or they may become restless, irritable, tense, or angry.
Anxiety can also be triggered by stressful or traumatic experiences, which can lead to those affected being ‘triggered’ and unable to function or remain calm when they are reminded of the event. This can lead people with anxiety to feel like they are being ‘held back’ by their fears and worries, unable to move forward in life, whether that is professionally or personally.
Anxiety can also have an impact on how you manage your money and finances, which can only further lead to more stress. So, how does anxiety affect our ability to manage our finances?
How Anxiety Can Affect Your Finances
Anxiety can limit our progression. Some days, you may feel really overwhelmed and not able to work as much as you could on a good day. Which can lead to loss of income. A decline in mental health can also make it much more difficult to handle and manage money.
As you may know, anxiety makes it harder to concentrate, focus, and you may lack the energy to deal with bills or organize your finances. You can also miss work due to depressive episodes, anxiety symptoms, or anxiety attacks.
When struggling with anxiety, some may even become impulsive and start overspending, which makes financial struggles even more complex.
For many of us, money is a safety net. Without a steady income, it can make us feel unstable, vulnerable, and anxious. When we start to worry about loss of income, unpaid bills, or looming debt, it can become an out-of-control cycle of worrying.
Coping With Financial Worries
Money struggles can be stressful for anyone and can cause many anxiety-related issues as we often worry about what will happen if we can’t afford to pay the bills. This can lead to an endless cycle of financial worries. So, what can you do to prevent this from spiraling?
The first step is to talk to someone about your struggles. Mental health is no longer a taboo subject, and it is vital that you seek guidance from a therapist or counselor. You can also speak to a family member or close friend for advice and support.
It is also worth speaking to a financial advisor or expert to help you understand how to manage your money. In addition, you should try to take inventory of your finances, instead of denying or avoiding dealing with bank statements. You can use apps or online websites to help you track and manage your finances.
Try to identify your spending patterns, habits, and triggers to try and limit overspending, and make some changes within your lifestyle to ensure you are not living beyond your means. This could be limiting eating out, getting take out, or that morning coffee.
It’s also imperative that you’re not too hard on yourself.
Everyone struggles with money from time to time, but as long as you have the support of friends, family, and a counselor, you can get back on track in no time. Reach out to us to find out more about anxiety therapy and how it can help you.
