Money worries...you're sick of it! We all are, to whatever degree: whether it's the stress of not enough of your own money, a family member's troubles, or simply feeling the heartache of sympathy for so many in our country today struggling to make ends meet- it's hard, and there is a name for it: money anxiety disorder- the latest American
epidemic (the acronym, conveniently, would be MAD.)
According to a survey in October by the American Psychological Association, 80 percent of us find the recent financial crisis a significant cause of stress—up from 66 percent last April—and women are bearing the brunt of the worry, reporting greater concern over job stability and health problems affecting their families, for example, than men are. "Money is a safety net, as in, 'I may not be able to count on people, but I can count on my cash,'" says the APA's public education coordinator for Pennsylvania, David Palmiter, PhD. "Now the thinking's gone to: 'There's nothing between me and the abyss.'"
You can find plenty of advice from financial experts on how to cope. But what about the pervasive sense of panic, which can take a serious toll on health, putting you at higher risk for a host of ailments from high blood pressure to heart disease. Science has shown that exercise and meditation are two of the most effective ways to reduce stress—but you probably already know that, and likely feel too pressured to try either. Oprah.com asked a few experts for other strategies you might not have considered.
Try hypnosis:
For years people have turned to hypnosis for help quitting smoking and
losing weight, but the technique is also becoming popular among
business types desperate to overcome financial stress, according to a
November report in The Wall Street Journal. Generally, in
hypnosis, a therapist uses verbal cues to put clients into a deeply
relaxed state, where they become absorbed in their inner thoughts, then
offers suggestions to shift an attitude so they can better tackle a
problem. In this case, the suggestions might be "Money is energy that
comes and goes" or "Your net worth doesn't equal your personal worth,"
to deflect the paralysis and insecurity that financial panic can cause.
Ideally, clients learn the process on their own.
"Hypnosis is
very similar to meditation," explains Dwight Damon, president of the
National Guild of Hypnotists, who recommends trying a professional
session before using the method on yourself. "While it won't make you
richer, it will help you handle, and feel better about, the money you
do have."
Treat yourself- NOW??
Yes! To lower financial stress, set a budget for each day and reward yourself, suggests Alvin Hall, a financial commentator on BBC TV and radio and author of You and Your Money: Mastering the Emotions Behind the Numbers. "Ask yourself: 'What is the one thing I can do that will give me the longest-lasting uplift for the least amount of money?'" During the economic downturn of 1987, Hall's treat was blackberry pie. "I'd think about it all day, and if I came in under my budget," he says, "I'd go order a slice. When I couldn't afford that, I'd visit the museum and look at Van Gogh paintings."
Become a manicurist for a friend.
Or exchange massages with your partner. According to Robert Sapolsky, PhD, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford University, who has studied wild baboons for 30 years, primates groom each other to reduce stress—and the effect seems to be more powerful for the one who is doing the primping.
Take up knitting...and you might come up with a blanket!
According to research at the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, the repetitive motion and focus of needlework can elicit what's known as the relaxation response—a calming meditation-like state that slows heart rate and causes blood pressure to drop. In addition, a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests that knitting is associated with a lower risk of dementia for those 65 and older.
See a bigger picture, or that forest through the trees.
During the Great Depression, "stress took the form of personal shame," according to historian David M. Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945. His own father, he says, had "what we would call a nervous breakdown." Kennedy observes that a much healthier and more resilient attitude for our times is: "Taking some responsibility but seeing this downturn more as a systemic failure and not a personal one."
John
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