It’s not just a problem for our pocketbooks. Research also indicates that this type of financial worry and stress can also damage our health. “To say that financial stress impacts health is an understatement,” says Ashley Agnew, director of relationship development at the financial planning group Centerpoint Advisors in Needham, Massachusetts, where she leads financial coaching and therapy services. (Agnew has a financial therapy graduate certificate from Kansas State University.) That’s because our finances affect so many aspects of our lives, including our safety, opportunities available to us, and relationships, she says. “Our relationship with money and our thoughts surrounding finances are big drivers of our health.” Here are some of the ways that too much financial stress can be so toxic for your health. Too much financial stress, however, can deeply affect our emotional well-being. Part of the reason financial stress tends to be so toxic is because of how all-consuming this kind of stress is. Money affects a lot of day-to-day activities (like buying groceries, paying rent or a mortgage, accessing healthcare, and providing for our families). Worrying about money can lead to worrying about all of these things. “When a person is experiencing financial stress, it is pervasive,” says Alex Melkumian, PsyD, licensed marriage and family therapist, a financial psychologist and founder of the Financial Psychology Center in Los Angeles. “You feel like there is nowhere to turn without being stressed or traumatized by your financial situation.” Over time, having lots of financial stress — particularly when combined with the lack of sleep that such stress can cause (more on that below) — can lead to complex trauma, Dr. Melkumian says. All of the financial decisions we’re forced to make each day can really add up, Agnew adds. “Some are as small as whether or not to purchase the sale or full priced item at the grocer, and some are as complex as whether or not to lend a large sum of money to a family member or change jobs,” she says. And the bigger decisions can have huge ripple effects in pretty much every aspect of your life. “Loss of sleep is one of the major signs that we are out of balance,” Melkumian says. “It’s our body’s way to sound the alarms that something is wrong.” Financial stress is particularly likely to lead to sleep issues, he says, because of how all-consuming it can be.
