The Cost of Living and your Mental Health
The Cost of Living and your mental health is a topic that is most relevant at the moment. For many of us in this country money is a huge source of anxiety and worry. As the cost of living increases we are forced to think about it a lot more throughout our day. Every week supermarket prices seems to be getting higher and higher, what we spend on a weekly shop does not go anywhere near as far. We are all searching for the cheapest version of things and money off. At home we all have an acute awareness of the cost of energy as prices rise and we keep our heating off and make sure our lights are not left on in rooms we are not in. We reconsider outings and holidays and rethink things to find a way to do it more cheaply.
As we juggle bills and expenses and worry about making ends meet, alongside the normal business of living, going to work, being with our family and looking after our homes, it is inevitable that it will impact our mental health and emotional wellbeing in a negative way.
The charity Mind also explains that there is a link between poor mental health and low income, that can become a vicious cycle that feels impossible to get out of in particular if addiction such as drugs, alcohol or gambling are used as a way of coping with the situation.
The difficulty is that money will not, in 99% of cases, magically appear out of the air. You can always work more, find other work, better paying work, spend less, cut back and reduce your outgoings, but even though you might be taking positive proactive action, it doesn’t mean that you are not still left with how it impacts on your health and mental wellbeing. You still need to find a way to cope with how you feel. Below are some ideas on what you might do and some links to online resources that might be able to help you.
- Don’t suffer alone – reach out for help from the most appropriate source
- Look for ways that you can support yourself and take care of yourself. Remember to drink water, exercise and get good sleep.
- Look for the opportunities in the situation, the free things that you can do, that you might have otherwise ignored. For instance meeting friends and going for a walk and a picnic in a new place rather than meeting in a café.
- Notice what you do have and the things you are thankful for. It can be easy to get caught up in what isn’t there.
The cost of living crisis is one that we are going to need to navigate as best we can. The above ideas are simply that, ways to make things more bearable, they are put forward with the understanding that they don’t actually solve the problem.
On this website
Blue Monday Depression and Anxiety
Managing Anxiety – 3 Quick Tips
Apps for your mental wellbeing
Dealing with Depression and Accessing Counselling
Counselling Support for Depression
Dealing with uncertainty – Ideas and Tips
Grounding Techniques in and Uncertain World
Online Resources
Mental Health and Money Advice – has a lot of good ideas and links to free resources and support
Mind – Money and Mental Health
Blurt – Cost of Living Crisis: Things which might help
Bank Workers Charity – Guide to Debt
CAPUK – How to find support in the cost of living crisis
Government Website – Help for Households
Whatever you are struggling with sometimes there is no substitute for speaking to a professional. If you are struggling with any issue you might find it beneficial to speak to a professional. If you would like formal help and would like to make an appointment with Paul, please call Paul on 07843 813 537 or fill in the form on the Contact Page, if he doesn’t answer he is probably in a session, please leave him a message and he will call you back as soon as he can.
