Why Debt Stress Sucks
Stressful situations are never easy, you have a situation that seems impossible to handle. But money issues seem to be more overwhelming and you just feel like pulling your hair out. You are deep into debt stress.
But there are different kinds of stress, there is the good or right stress for instance doing exercise. You are pushing your body hence stress to do something or achieve something like 100 push-ups.
Then there is the negative kind of stress where you experience headaches due to the overthinking. For instance you are at the brink of facing eviction; this will lead to the kind of stress that eventually leads to depression.
Stress and depression are tied together where one leads to another. But what is the biggest thing that leads to this kind of issues, for a majority of people its finances.
Money is their biggest stress factor but many fall into the trap of borrowing money that you promise to pay at a later date. This borrowing leads to another thing and the stressful situation is born which is bad debt.
72% of Americans said they felt stressed about money, according to an American Psychological Association study and 22% said they felt “extreme” stress over their finances, according to Debt.org.
A whooping debt is the biggest thing facing most households. The financial and debt stress a household experiences leads to more debt eventually leading to poverty.
According to Tough Nickel, the average American household has over $155,000 of debt. Liabilities include mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit card balances, medical bills, signature loans, back taxes, and overdraft charges.
Having any kind of debt no matter how small it is will make you unhappy and always stressed about that debt. What you will quickly realise is how a big chunk of your money will be taken up by the debt.
You will just be surviving with the little left after paying the debt. You will not be living comfortably and you’ll have to sacrifice a lot of comfort.
According to WebMD, those who report high levels of debt stress suffer from a range of stress-related illnesses including ulcers, migraines, back pain, anxiety, depression, and heart attacks.
You won’t be enjoying life, debt will be like this big fat monster that doesn’t stop eating. You will feed it and continue feeding it with never an end in sight. You have to admit and accept that you got into this money issue due to your poor or bad money decisions.
You cannot expect to be out of it if you keep on buying and spending your money on the latest gadgets or luxuries like a brand new car. Accepting the responsibility of your mistake will be the first step in clearing that debt.
There are consequences to this that will affect you financially, mentally and physically. The most known consequence is suffering from depression and stress; in other cases you might become obese.
According to Debt.org, people who struggle with debt are more than twice as likely to suffer from depression, according to a study by the University of Nottingham in England.
You are not only at the risk of debt stress plus depression but also your properties being auctioned if you owe cash to the bank and such other institutions. There is nothing as humiliating and demoralising as seeing what you had worked for tirelessly going on the hammer and sold.
It has a wide effect on you and also your family, for instance you have accumulated bad debt over the years and now the debtor wants his or her money back. You need the money to take care of this situation which can be toxic to you and everyone around you in the long run.
The effects this might have on your children are life-changing for your kids like giving up school or for them to start working. Their future is changed and not in a good way but a negative way, that debt just changed the entire family’s future. Therefore debt stress becomes parts of your life and family.
A 2016 study found that, on average, as parents take on more debt, their children tend to become worse off in terms of their socio-emotional well-being.
And considering the meteoric rise of household debt in recent years (as of March 2017, total household indebtedness is up to about $12.7 trillion, $50 billion above its 2008 peak, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, this issue is concerning for the many families it stands to affect, along with American society at large.
Debt makes you at risk of being auctioned, evicted, debt rising due to the interest rates and your whole family and loved ones being affected. It like a trap that sucks you more in as you try to struggle your way out.
Of course being debt free won’t be easy; you will have to sacrifice a lot from your sleep, luxuries and entertainment like television (TV).
But it isn’t all gloom and doom; you can get out of debt by having to do a lot more. You will have to start lining your life on a shoe string and say no to luxuries. You will most likely get rid of any liabilities you might have like cars.
Eventually you will be out of debt. The goal here being to be completely debt free, when it does happen it will be like a big load lifted from your back.
Conclusion
Bad debt isn’t a great thing to have to tackle with every single day. It will always be at the back of your mind. You will be depressed and have debt stress the majority of your days, you will have no enthusiasm to wake up and do that job or work.
This burden will also weigh heavily on your family and loved ones. A family may be broken because of this. Debt will have an effect on every area of your life. The only solution is to find a way to get out of this debt, sell what you have to and eliminate any kind of luxuries you have.
Have you experienced being in debt before? Has debt caused you to become stressed and depressed before? Do you know of any other things that stress and depression might originate that deserve a mention?
Then do share and tell in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you. Also share this with your friends and family, sharing is caring.
-Michael Kamenya