Money Management & Mental Health Toolkit
Worrying about money can be extremely stressful. You may feel like it is the only thing that you can think about and that your mind is not able to focus on anything else.
This can feel very debilitating and create the feeling of being stuck in a ‘vicious cycle’ because it doesn’t feel like you can change the situation. It can start to impact on your wellbeing by affecting your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
It can be common to have lots of thoughts about the ‘worst-case scenario’ or continually thinking about how things could have been different. You may notice yourself starting to feel very low, and experience feelings such as shame, embarrassment, or guilt. You could find yourself beginning to withdraw from your usual activities and not wanting to spend time with people as much as you usually would.
If you are experiencing money worries, you may find yourself avoiding certain places, people or activities. Avoidance is easy to do if you are feeling down or stressed because it will often make you feel relieved in the short-term. You just want to feel better as quickly as possible, so it makes sense that your brain automatically jumps to this option – even if it is a temporary fix. The problem is, the thing that you are avoiding doesn’t go away, and the more you avoid it, the more anxiety-provoking it can feel. Tackling what we are avoiding head-on is the only way to deal with it – even if it feels scary and you don’t know where to start.
Build Your Confidence
We know that mental health and money worries can often knock your confidence and self-esteem. To help manage this, it’s a good idea to recognise your unique qualities. This will remind you that your money problems are only one part of your identity.
Nobody is perfect, but we all have traits we can see as positive. Keep this in mind – as not everyone will have this strength. It can be empowering to write this down and keep it with you. You could keep it in your wallet or on your phone as a note and use it when you need a reminder of your ability.
A good exercise is to take 15 minutes out and ask yourself these questions:
List ten positive adjectives about yourself
List ten positive things that you can do
List ten positive things that you are good at doing
List ten positive things that other people say about you
List ten positive achievements about yourself
Be honest and realistic with yourself and put the modesty to one side please.
Don’t Forget Self Care
Think about your current activity levels: Have these changed since experiencing financial difficulties? For good mental health, we need to be regularly taking part in routine, necessary, and enjoyable activities. When we are under a lot of stress, we can often find that our activity levels decrease – particularly those activities which we used to find enjoyable. It is a catch-22 situation as you are unlikely to feel better in yourself if you don’t have any opportunities to enjoy. Still, you are also unlikely to try activities if you don’t feel like doing them. It is important to try and regain a balance to these three activities. The routine, necessary and enjoyable ones. By doing this, it is likely to help your mood and wellbeing, putting you in a much better mindset to tackle some of the difficulties you are currently facing.
Face The Problem Solving
When you feel stuck and overwhelmed, it can often feel impossible to think about solutions to a situation. When stressed, the rational part of our brain starts to shut down (to focus on fighting or escaping the threat). Even if you would usually be able to solve problems quickly, you can begin to struggle – this is due to the emotional part of the brain taking over. The process below can help to retake control of our rational brain and enable us to think about a difficult situation in a structured and logical way. You might want to work through this section with your healthcare worker. Try these steps:
1 – Identify the Problem
This is something that has happened – not something that might occur. Be as specific as you can.
2 – Write Potential Solutions
Identify all possible solutions or responses to this problem and write them down. It’s easier said than done - but a good tip is to try not to think too far ahead at this stage - just think of as many possible actions as you can. It can help to think about what you would advise a friend to do in the same situation.
3 - Look at the Pros and Cons
For each solution, list out their pro’s and con’s
4 – Choose the Solution
Considering all of the pro’s and con’s, which is your considered best solution?
5 - Make a Plan
Each solution can then be broken into milestones (goals). For each milestone, write out the steps you have to achieve it and their deadline. Put this plan into your diary
6 – Review Progress
Look at how things are going. Things might not work out or they might be behind deadline. Even if there are setbacks, you are further forward than you were.
Managing Stress in Money Management
When we are facing a difficult financial situation, we will face stress and we might face symptoms such as:
Increased heart rate
Tightening of the chest
Difficulty breathing
Headaches
Tension
Dizziness
Restlessness
Nausea
Loss of appetite
It is difficult to stop this response - however slowing your breathing down can help to counteract the ‘fight or flight’ response, and help us feel less anxious. Try practising this simple technique:
Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds
Hold for 4 seconds
Exhale through your mouth for 6 seconds
Hold for 2 seconds
Repeat 5-10 times.
By regulating your breathing, you should now feel calmer and more prepared to move forward.
Plan For Crisis
When our mental health declines, or when we are in financial difficulty, we may experience feelings of hopelessness, or that there is no way out of our situation, which can cause great distress.
For some people, these feelings could become overwhelming and lead to a mental health crisis. This can mean different things for different people; for example, it might mean experiencing mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts.
It’s a good idea to create a Mental Health Crisis Plan (click on the link to download) with those closest to you. The plan should have these details in it:
What a Mental Health Crisis will look like for you
The things that have helped you in the past in the event of a mental health crisis
The name and contact details of your first choice contact in the event of a mental health crisis
The name and contact details of your back-up contact in the event of a mental health crisis
The crisis plan can be a helpful and pre-emptive tool to be completed before things deteriorate. It can make the difference and help people to move forward through their issues.
Contact
moneymattersdonegal@outlook.com
Aidan Kelly