How financial stress affects your health
Various situations trigger stress in people.
For example, decision-making stress, work stress, or relationship stress.
Here you will learn:
- What financial stress is.
- What causes financial stress.
- How financial stress affects you.
- Whether you are in a risk group.
- How to avoid financial stress.
What is financial stress?
Financial stress = stress caused by financial insecurity, debt, or economic pressure. The stress can be psychologically and emotionally burdensome.
What causes financial stress?
Here is a list of triggers (stressors) that lead to financial stress, i.e., specific situations related to money that cause stress.
- Little savings
- High debts
- Contact with creditors
- Lack of money for basic needs
- Misjudgment of one's own financial situation
- Feeling overwhelmed by the situation
- Feeling burdened by the situation
- Feeling of lacking social support
- Fear of never being able to pay off debts
- Loss of control
Many of these triggers are subjective. This means that they vary from person to person. It depends on how you assess the problem.
The amount of debt is not important. Neither is how much money someone earns.
Much more important is how a person experiences their financial situation. A person with CHF 100,000 in debt can therefore have less stress than someone with CHF 1,000 in debt.
Impact of debt
The effects on life are just as diverse. There are individual and societal effects.
- Poorer nutrition, less exercise
- Forgoing doctor's visits and treatments
- Loss of self-efficacy and perceived control
- Anxieties, e.g., existential fears
- Depression, suicidal thoughts
- Poor sleep
- Increased risk of alcohol and drug abuse
- Social isolation
- Worse chances when looking for housing and naturalization
People with financial stress generally have a higher risk of health
problems and a lower life expectancy.
Specifically, an 8 to 11 times higher risk of health problems.
People with financial problems are often ashamed of their situation. As a result, these people do not talk about their problems. They also seek less help.
Quiz - How high is your risk of financial stress?
Answer the questions. Count how many statements you answer with "YES".
The more YES answers, the higher your risk. Each "YES" = 10% risk.
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Are you under 27 years old? |
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Do you have a mental illness? |
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Are you currently unemployed? |
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Do you have no tertiary degree, i.e., no university/college degree? |
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Do you have about two months' salary saved for emergencies? |
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Do you spend your money quickly on short-term rewards? |
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Are you a single parent? |
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Have you recently experienced a separation, job loss, or accident? |
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Are you currently experiencing material or social hardship? |
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Do you have several overdue payments or types of debt? |
Important note: This test is an assessment. Just because you belong to the risk group, you do not automatically get into debt.
Tips / Actions
- Talk about money
- Inform yourself about money topics
- Know the available support services
- Teach children how to handle money properly.
You can find eight tips here on feel-ok.ch. - Get help early.
Here you can find help with debt in your region.
There are various support services with similar names. Therefore, here is a brief overview:
- Debt prevention: You don't have any debts yet. You have general questions about money.
- Budget counseling: Whether with or without debt. You want a better overview of your budget.
- Debt counseling: You already have debts. You need strategic help with paying off debts.
Main Sources
https://www.hetsl.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/rad/recherche/Rapports/7454_Resume-ResultatsPrincipaux-DE.pdf
https://schulden.ch/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/sbs-statistik-2021-extern.pdf