The leading cause of stress for Americans is money
Close to three-quarters of Americans said they feel stressed
about money at least some of the time
Thirty-two percent of Americans said their lack of money
prevents them from living a healthy lifestyle
By Dr. Mercola
The American Psychological Association (APA) has released its
latest “Stress in America” report, with some good news to
report. Overall, average stress levels in the US are trending
downward.
On a 10-point scale, with 1 being “little or no stress” and 10
being “a great deal of stress,” the average stress level was 4.9 in
2014, compared to over 6 in 2007.1
That being said, many are still reporting high levels of
stress, especially when it comes to one major factor: money.
Money and Financial Pressures Are Stressing Americans Out
Money topped the list of stressors to Americans, beating out
work, family responsibilities, and health concerns. Close to
three-quarters of Americans (72 percent) said they feel stressed
about money at least some of the time, and close to one-quarter (22
percent) said they experience extreme stress about money.
In the last year, most Americans have taken steps to cut back on
their expenses, including using coupons, cooking more at home, and
cutting back on non-essentials. Despite these steps, 54 percent of
Americans say they have “just enough” or “not enough” money to make
ends meet at the end of the month.
What’s more, 32 percent of Americans said their lack of money
prevents them from living a healthy lifestyle, while one in five
have skipped (or considered skipping) needed doctor’s visits due to
financial concerns.
It’s a vicious cycle, because both stress and financial pressure
can take a toll on your health, which in turn may create more stress
and money trouble. According to the APA report:2
“These findings stand against a backdrop of research that
shows the profound effects of stress on health status and
longevity. Research also shows that financial struggles strain
individuals’ cognitive abilities, which could lead to poor
decision-making and may perpetuate their unfavorable financial
and health situations.”
Health Care Costs Are a Leading Source of Financial Stress
“Even though aspects of the U.S. economy continue to improve,
some Americans are squeezed by sharp increases in health care costs
and the cost of living,” the report noted. Overall, 38 percent
of Americans said paying for out-of-pocket health care costs is a
somewhat or very significant source of stress.
Parents and younger people (Generation Xers) report even higher
levels of stress due to health care costs, as do those who make
$50,000 a year or less (the study’s definition of lower income).
America spends 2.5 times more on health care per capita than any
other developed nation, quickly approaching $3 trillion every year.
With this kind of expenditure, you would expect our citizens to be
the healthiest in the world, but this is not the case. In fact, the
US ranks dead last in quality of care—Americans
are sicker and live shorter lives than people in most other
industrialized nations.
Meanwhile, those living in lower-income households report higher
stress levels than those living in higher-income households, and
they’re nearly twice as likely to say a lack of money prevents them
from living a healthy lifestyle.
Case in point, low-income families often rely on coupons to
stretch tight food budgets. But the vast majority of coupons are for
processed food—not fresh produce, organic foods or local foods.
One study found that most grocery store coupons slice the cost of
junk food and sugary drinks, but relatively few discount
high-quality meats, dairy, or fresh fruits and vegetables.3
The majority of the coupons are for
processed foods because those are the stores' most profitable
products, so they make deals with manufacturers to promote them.
If the poorest families are the most frequent coupon users, then
it makes sense they would also have the worst diets and most health
problems—and indeed, that is what the research shows. The healthiest
states in the union are also the wealthiest, and nearly all of the
nation's least healthy states have the lowest per capita income.4
Likely not coincidentally, this population, along with
being more stressed, is also more likely to engage in sedentary or
unhealthy behaviors to manage their stress (such as watching TV for
more than two hours a day, surfing the internet, eating, drinking
alcohol or smoking).
Also at particular risk are women of all income levels who,
according to the APA report, “consistently report high levels of
overall stress and unhealthy behaviors to manage stress, also report
high levels of stress about money.”
Is Too Much Stress Taking a Toll on Your Health?
The documentary “Stress: Portrait of a Killer,” above,
illustrates how prolonged exposure to stress can ruin your health in
a multitude of ways. Science has established that stress can lead to
cardiovascular disease, and it can also lead to weight gain—of
the worst kind.
Stress-induced weight gain typically involves an increase in
belly fat, which is the most dangerous fat for your body to
accumulate and increase your
cardiovascular risk. Stress alters the way fat is deposited
because of the specific hormones and other chemicals your body
produces when you're stressed.
Prolonged stress can also damage your brain cells and make you
lose the capacity to remember things. The brain cells of stressed
rats are dramatically smaller, especially in the area of their
hippocampus, which is the seat of learning and memory.
Stress disrupts your neuroendocrine and immune systems and
appears to trigger a degenerative process in your brain that can
result in
Alzheimer's disease. In addition, when you're stressed, your
body releases stress hormones like cortisol, which prepare your body
to fight or flee the stressful event.
When stress becomes chronic, however, your immune system becomes
less sensitive to cortisol, and since inflammation is partly
regulated by this hormone, this decreased sensitivity heightens
the inflammatory response and allows inflammation to get out of
control.
According to award-winning neurobiologist Dr. Robert Sapolsky,
the following are the most common health conditions that are caused
by or worsened by stress:
Cardiovascular disease
Hypertension
Depression
Anxiety
Sexual dysfunction
Infertility and irregular cycles
Frequent colds
Insomnia and fatigue
Trouble concentrating
Memory loss
Appetite changes
Digestive problems and dysbiosis
Emotional Support May Help You Manage Your Stress
You are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of stress if you
feel like you have no control, no way out, feel like things are
getting worse, and have little social support. Indeed, the APA
report found that “those feeling the weight of money-related
stress are able to cope and manage their stress in healthier ways
when they say they have emotional support.”
The disparities were quite large. For instance, 43 percent of
those without emotional support said their stress had increased in
the past year compared to just 26 percent of those with emotional
support. The problem is that not everyone has emotional support at
the ready. APA noted:
“Survey findings show that Americans who say they have
emotional support — specifically, that they have someone they
can ask for emotional support if they need it, such as family
and friends — report lower stress levels and better related
outcomes than those without emotional support.
But finding that support when you need it can be
difficult: One in five Americans (21 percent) say they have no
one to rely on for emotional support. A similar percentage of
Americans (18 percent) say money is a taboo subject in their
family and more than one-third (36 percent) say that talking
about money makes them uncomfortable.”
If you don’t have a friend or family member to confide in,
consider joining a local support group or even an online forum. You
can also seek professional support as well as use the Emotional
Freedom Technique (EFT) to address existing emotional scars --
traumas that can adversely affect your health. Chronic stress is
akin to emotional scarring in that it may also cause ongoing damage
to your cells.
How to Use the Emotional Freedom Technique for Stress Relief and
Goal Setting
Energy psychology techniques such as EFT can be very effective
for reducing anxiety by correcting the bioelectrical
short-circuiting that causes your body’s reactions—without adverse
effects. You can think of EFT as a tool for “reprogramming” your
circuitry, and it works on both real and imagined stressors. EFT is
a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy
meridians used in traditional acupuncture for more than 5,000 years
to treat physical and emotional ailments, but without the
invasiveness of needles.
Following a 2012 review in the American Psychological
Association’s journal Review of General Psychology, EFT has
actually met the criteria for evidence-based treatments set by the
APA for a number of conditions.5
Recent research has shown that EFT significantly increases positive
emotions, such as hope and enjoyment, and decreases negative
emotional states, including anxiety.6
EFT is particularly effective for treating stress and anxiety
because it specifically targets your amygdala and hippocampus, which
are the parts of your brain that help you decide whether or not
something is a threat. In addition to stress relief, you can use EFT
for setting goals and sticking to them, which is what the video
above is focused on. If you are seriously stressed about money,
setting goals related to your financial future might be especially
pertinent – and easier to achieve when combined with EFT.
Take Control of Your Stress
There are many different stress-reduction techniques. Regardless
of the source of your stress, whether it be money, family troubles,
or something different entirely, the key is to find out what works
best for you, and stick to a daily stress-reduction
program. One key strategy is to make sure you get
adequate sleep, as sleep deprivation dramatically impairs your
body’s ability to handle stress. Besides that, other
stress-management approaches include:
Yoga: Health benefits from regular yoga practice have
been shown to decrease stress, improve sleep, and immune
function, and reduce food cravings, among other things