Financial Strain on Physical Health
For years I’ve been talking about how there seems to be a cyclical and reflective relationship between financial health and physical well being. These days, it is more profound than ever. With rising costs of daily living, the average family needs a minimumm of $700 or more per month than before, and most people do not realize the toll it is taking on their physical health.
This cyclical relationship begins with the stress of financial strain on the family. When families struggle to make ends meet, that causes a lot of stress on the body. We know that stress can cause heart issues. Chronic stress over time has been linked to cardiovascular disease for one, and while results are mixed between a correlation between obesity and significant financial strain, the possibility is still great. If the strain of fiancial health causes an emotional trigger, this could result in over or under eating in some individuals.
When financial resources are lowered, it causes people to make delayed decisions in getting themselves much needed medical care. In many cases, the ramifications from the avoidance of going to the doctor are chronic disease states due to the person waiting for so long to receive care. Medical costs are one major causes of concern for many idividuals. In fact, a majority of Americans have major financial constraints due to medical bills.
Medical bankruptcy is a real issue in America. A new study shows that 66.5% of Americans are related somehow to medical debt, whether it is from high costs of healthcare or time out of work due to a medical issue. So how does this affect the physical health of a person? Besides the obvious mental health issue of anxiety and worry that there isn’t enough in resources, this strain can also cause issues with your immune system, digestive issues, weight fluctuation, heart and blood pressure, insomnia, depression, and unhealthy coping mechanisms such as drug or alcohol abuse to overeating, to name a few. And all of these concerns are unfortunately common amongst most people. So, could financial strain be one of the hidden causes?
“Poor physical health: Ongoing stress about money has been linked to headaches, stomachaches, migraines, heart disease, diabetes, sleep problems, and more,” (Warth J, Puth M-T, Tillmann J, et al.). What can be done about this? Not everyone will have success asking their bosses for a raise, and many companies are struggling themselves to make ends meet. Thre are a few ways to mitigate the affects of ongoing stress from tight finances.
Stress Management - meditation, breath work, anti-inflammatory foods, get good sleep.
Go Lean on your budget - cut out what is not necessary, but don’t sacrifice everything (because that is exactly what will cause this behavior!)
Create additional wealth - This doesn’t have to look like a second j-o-b and working your fingers to the bone. There are a lot of options out there in the form of Direct Sales or Affiliate Marketing jobs, that quite frankly can be fun and give you good social interaction (which knocks out some of that stress management too).
One thing I can offer you is an option to create additional wealth. I found a natural wellness store that offers an option for affiliate marketing which is NOT an MLM. Leave me a comment if you would like more information on this, but there are options out there, you might just have to be open to trying some of them - without judgment.
Remember: YOU are the only person in control of this financial strain. You are not stuck. Reach out. Life is so much better when you are living your dream with others who share in that with you or at a minimum support you in your dream. Oftentimes the problem is that people don’t want to put in the work. And that is a different blog post altogether. Stay tuned…I WILL go there.
Be Well.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.379
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/this-is-the-real-reason-most-americans-file-for-bankruptcy.
https://www.verywellmind.com/understanding-and-preventing-financial-stress-3144546.
Warth J, Puth M-T, Tillmann J, et al. Over-indebtedness and its association with sleep and sleep medication use. BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):957. doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7231-1
