In all the technical discussion you hear about credit card
debt, the best ways to manage it and pay it off and all the
rest, one thing goes largely ignored. Credit card debt is
extremely stressful, and can have a very negative effect on
your life, if you let it. It's as bad as an addiction, always
hanging over you, bringing you down, making it hard to life
your life the way you want to. In this article, we'll take a
look at how you can recognise debt stress, and what you can do
about it.
The Symptoms of Debt Stress.
There are an awful lot of symptoms that can be caused by
stress. Some of the most common ones are: headaches, not being
able to sleep, feeling depressed and irritable, and being
forgetful and unable to concentrate on what you're doing. If
you're not sure whether your symptoms are related to stress or
something else, you should go and see a doctor.
Who Gets It?
Almost everyone who has debts is stressed about them. Debt is
blamed for millions of days off work every year, and is one of
the leading causes of suicide - it seems like most times you
read about someone who has committed suicide, their name is
followed by "who owed [a very large amount] in debts". Students
and graduates are especially vulnerable, as debt is growing
amongst them faster than in any other group.
The average adult owes many thousands in debts - and since
that's the average, it means that many people must owe much
more. Never forget that you're not alone, and there's always
someone worse off than you.
How to Deal With It.
Stress caused by debts is often considered to be embarrassing,
or shameful. People with lots of debts don't want to talk about
it, even with their family, for fear of upsetting people or
looking like a failure. It is very important, though, that you
do talk about your problems, as keeping it all inside yourself
will make you much, much more stressed. It is especially
important that you talk to your partner - they are the number
one person who can support you.
The best thing to do then is to find two people: one who can
advise you, and one who can be a counsellor. That means a
professional who knows what they're doing in financial matters,
as well as a psychologist or psychiatrist, or some other kind of
counsellor. Don't let stigmas put you off - this is about your
health.
The next thing to do is to have a good think about how you got
that debt to begin with. See if you can find old credit card
statements. What did you spend the money on? You need to sit
down, work out a budget, cut unnecessary expenses and try to
free up as much money as you can to pay back debts. Even if
it'll be a long time before you get everything paid off,
knowing that your debt is gradually going downwards can be an
excellent cure for debt stress.
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