What is Financial Anxiety?

Financial anxiety, sometimes called Money Anxiety is an emotional response to your financial situation. It is a feeling of apprehension, fear, or worry about your finances. Experiencing financial anxiety doesn’t necessarily mean that you lack funds. You could be worried about losing all your savings or troubled that your income may not be able to meet up to your financial needs. Other times, financial anxiety happens because you don’t understand terms or financial management.

What Causes Financial Anxiety?

Financial Anxiety can be caused by a history of deprivation, low or unsteady income, rising expenses, or accumulated debt. 

How can Money Anxiety affect you?

Financial anxiety can make it hard to live a happy and fulfilling life. It can affect your daily life and your relationships with others. It can also factor into mental health and emotional concerns, including sleep deprivation, which can lead to high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease. Furthermore, if worry about money and it becomes overwhelming, you might find yourself turning to alcohol or other substances to cope, which can lead to substance abuse.

How to Cope With Financial Anxiety Ahead of a New Year. 

Here are 7 ways to cope with financial anxiety:

1. Find the Root Cause

The first step to dealing with any situation is acknowledging that there is an issue to cope with, and subsequently finding the source of the problem. What aspect of your finances is keeping you awake at night? Is it a lack of income or not enough of it? Too much debt? Or perhaps you have enough now but you’re worried about retirement? Identifying the cause of your anxiety is the first step to coping with it.

2. Make a plan

After you know the source of your anxiety, it is easier to plan accordingly. If you don’t have an income or need to supplement your current income, you could draw up an action plan on how to get a well-paying job or work out other ways you can earn money by leveraging your education or skills. Having a plan in place can help to lessen your anxiety because it gives you something positive to look forward to.

3. Create a Budget

A budget helps to ensure that your expenses do not exceed your income. It enables you to plan where your money will go each month and how much you can spend on each activity or expense category. Setting a firm limit on each expense can go a long way to giving you a sense of financial security.

4. Ask for Help

Anyone can experience money anxiety or financial problems, even people in your circle who seem to be living their best life. As hard as admitting it to others can be, telling trusted friends and loved ones can be very helpful. It gives you the opportunity to: offload your chest by venting your fears and worries, receive a helping hand, brainstorm solutions with your friends and family.

5. Practice relaxation Techniques

It is difficult to plan effectively when you’re stressed. If you’re finding it hard to focus while budgeting or working on your finances, a 10-15 minute relaxation break can help ground you and improve your mood and focus. Some of the relaxation techniques include you can try out are :Listening to music that you love, taking a long and quiet walk, meditation, and breathing exercises.

6. Learn About Money

If reading financial contracts triggers anxiety, consider brushing up on your financial jargon and learning finance management. The key is to learn in bits and pieces, to avoid the risk of overwhelming yourself more. Alternatively, you could hire a financial coach to help explain confusing terms in words you can easily understand. 

7. Be Positive

It is impossible to overcome any situation with a negative mindset. Negative thoughts and words only worsen anxiety. Think positive and believe that you can overcome the situation. Developing the habit of positive affirmations over your finances can keep you in the right frame of mind to be able to execute other coping mechanisms.

Our final words,

The year has just begun, but worrying about money can leave you overwhelmed and unhappy. Over time, it could also contribute to serious mental health concerns, including chronic anxiety and depression. While resolving long-standing financial challenges can take time, a positive mindset and a plan can help you deal more efficiently with them. Furthermore, you don’t have to navigate your fears alone. Seek help from people you trust. If your situation is overwhelming, consider getting professional help by speaking to a life coach or therapist on the DRO Health app. Visit www.drohealth.com to get started today.

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According to World Health Organization (W.H.O), neglecting the importance of mental and emotional health in the workplace may lead to other problems; While another report states that at least 1 in 4 persons will be affected by a mental health challenge at some point in life. Some of these workplace problems may be: excessive use of alcohol, over-dependence on caffeine, harmful use of drugs, absenteeism or loss of interest at work.

For these reasons, many organizations- locally and internationally, are putting more efforts to support their employees’ mental and emotional health. For some Nigerian companies, they include ‘mental health therapy packages’ as an added benefit of working with them. And while these efforts are very necessary, nobody can manage yourself like you do.

Managing your mental and emotional health might be difficult, but if you continue long-term, you’ll start to feel better especially at work and more efficient. This post aims to highlight 5 ways you can manage mental and emotional stress at work.

1. Purposely create time to look after yourself.

‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ This statement is true in how you approach your work lifestyle. Playing doesn’t necessarily mean having fun, it can also mean doing things that could help you clear your mind. You can read your favorite book or novel, take a long walk, have a hot bath, go for a short drive, call a friend, take yourself out to your favorite restaurant, see a movie. If you have the means, you can use your annual leave to go on a vacation for a change of scenery or environment.

2. Remember to nourish your body properly.

If you work from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, it can be easy to forget to eat or drink well. The importance of eating well is that it nourishes your body, mind and gives you strength. Rather than resorting to fast food or junk, make it a conscious habit to eat a balanced meal at least once in a day. Ensure your meal includes vegetables, protein, fats & oil, carbohydrates, fruits and clean water. This way your body is rejuvenated and your mind is sharp.

3. Exercise and practice yoga.

Participating in physical activities like exercises is a way to manage mental and emotional stress at work. For simple exercises, you can take a long walk early in the morning or late or night to clear your head and breathe out. You can also jog around your house to release any built-up stress in your muscles. If you’re not a fan of exercises, you can practice yoga at home. Yoga helps you to connect with your innermost self to find peace from within and breathe from a happy place.

With simple exercise and yoga, you can always practice at home without any distractions. And they are a great way to release endorphins (stress relief hormones).

4. Meditate daily on positive affirmations.

Daily affirmations are positive words of encouragement that build up how you view yourself. Rather than reflecting on the things that you hate about your workplace, you can reflect on the future you’re building. Affirmations have a great effect on your mood and can help you manage your stress level.

5. Speak to a therapist on DRO Health.

Feeling stressed and overwhelmed especially with activities from work is 100% normal. It is a part of life, however if you feel constantly overwhelmed, you should speak to a therapist immediately.

On the DRO Health app, we have professional therapists who can help you manage your mental and emotional stressors at your workplace. We have a mental health plan you can subscribe to. The weekly mental health plan can be subscribed to at N4,000. While the monthly plan goes for N8,000.

Always remember that you’re not a robot and you if you’re dealing with more than you can handle; detach and take a break. Speak to a therapist on the DRO Health app, if you’ve tried all the tips listed above.

Download the DRO Health app and take free mental health assessments (anxiety, depression, stress, sex addiction, gambling, etc.) Reach out to get all the support you deserve on your mental health journey.

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