In this day and age, finances can be troublesome. You may be struggling to make ends meet, or you may find it difficult to manage your money, which can lead to some financial issues.

It’s important to remember that many people are going through the same thing as you, and you could be struggling with financial trauma. So, let’s take a closer look at the lens of what financial trauma is and how you can recover from it.

What Is Financial Trauma?

Financial trauma can be described as a point in someone’s life where their relationship with money becomes negative. Things may have changed, or circumstances may have changed, which could lead to financial stress along with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Experts in financial trauma describe this as the emotional, physical, and cognitive deficit individuals may experience when they struggle to cope with a financial loss or the stress of not having adequate financial support and resources.

What this means is that if someone goes through an abrupt change in their finances, they can actually exhibit signs of trauma as a result.

Some people can experience such financial-related stress that it can be as severe as having post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by their financial situation.

Many researchers have gone so far as to show that socioeconomic factors such as food insecurity, financial struggles, housing instability, and vulnerable living conditions can be linked to major anxiety disorders, and can put a lot of stress on the psyche.

Signs of Financial Trauma

Financial trauma, or financial PTSD, is when you are struggling with the notion of having financial troubles. For instance, if you have been living with an income that does not meet your expenses, then you may have symptoms of PTSD.

This may have happened due to a traumatic financial loss, such as severe medical bills, foreclosing on a residence, losing money due to a divorce settlement, or after losing your business or due to fraud. In other cases, it could be due to losing your job and therefore your financial stability.

The physical symptoms of financial trauma may be insomnia, hyperreactivity to things that trigger your worries about finances, jitteriness, anxiousness, and nerves. More emotional symptoms could be difficulty finding joy in certain situations, feeling isolated from friends and family, feeling that you are missing out on things, or worrying that these things are inevitable and that you are unsure where life will take you from here.

You may also suffer from negative thoughts, which can stop you from concentrating or sleeping well.

4 Tips to Recover from Financial Trauma

Get Support

The first step in your recovery is to get the help that you need. Talk to a friend or family member about how you are feeling. This also means talking to a mental health professional for guidance about how to cope with your trauma, along with speaking to a financial advisor for help to get you back on your feet.

Plan for the Future

The next step is to plan for the future. Make sure that you have an eye on your money and track your expenses or savings. Try putting a small amount of money away for a rainy day, or make a plan for what you want to achieve financially in the future.

Stop Avoiding It

Avoiding your financial struggles will only make the stress worse. Make sure you check your balance and work through your fears. Make a clear plan about what you need to do to work off the debt, how much you need to save, where you need to cut down on expenses, etc.

Be Kind to Yourself

Finally, be kind to yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself, recognize what has happened, and be self-compassionate. Take some time for self-care and mindfulness to reduce stress, triggers, and anxiety.