If you’re feeling the effects of rising costs in today’s economy, you may find yourself burdened by the overwhelming weight of financial stress, making it difficult to get through routine daily activities. Without healthy coping strategies, economic stress can emotionally deplete you and negatively impact your psychological well-being.
Simple pleasures you may have once taken for granted — like daily morning matcha, a weekly cupcake, or Taco Tuesday — are now a source of stress as you consider the financial implications of these familiar comforts. Even grocery shopping becomes associated with anxiety as you notice your weekly budget doesn’t have the same spending power. Each time we indulge, we look at our bank accounts, and our stomachs twist at the sight.
You aren’t alone in this frustration — countless Americans are feeling the sting of rising costs. However, here are some tips that can help you maintain emotional stability in unstable economic times.
What Is Economic Anxiety?
When there’s an economic downturn, the cost of living increases while wages remain stagnant, creating pervasive worries about future economic insecurity and financial instability. This wide-ranging emotional distress and diminished sense of security in response to larger economic forces — such as inflation, market instability, and recession — is known as economic anxiety 1 .
People who feel the effects of economic anxiety will excessively worry about their finances as costs rise with no relief in sight. While financial anxiety is another money-related mental health concern, it’s smaller in scope and primarily deals with personal finances rather than broader economic trends. Although financial anxiety and economic anxiety are interconnected, the ladder is widespread and can affect an entire population, regardless of income level.
Effects of economic anxiety:
Economic anxiety doesn’t just affect your wallet — stress effects your mental and physical health too. These negative effects include :
- Trouble sleeping.
- Elevated heart rate.
- Tension headaches.
- Low self-esteem.
- Extreme shame or fear.
- Weight changes from undereating or overeating.
While economic anxiety is not a clinical anxiety disorder classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), persistent stress can activate underlying mental health conditions. For example, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder, or acute stress disorder can all result from long-term anxiety 2 .
Related: What Causes Mental Illness?
Causes of economic anxiety
According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the cost of living has steadily increased for the past three decades with little indication that this trend will turn for the better. The most notable spike in inflation occurred between 2021 and 2022, fueled by economic crisis and supply chain disruptions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is reflected in the Economic Anxiety Index — a measurement of wide-spread financial stress and feelings of instability — which recorded record-breaking highs in 2020. Although measuring economic anxiety is an inexact science, it’s undeniable that many Americans are still feeling the effects of these disruptions today 3 .
In addition, energy markets have experienced significant price increases, affecting the cost of shipping, farming, gasoline, and simply keeping the lights on at home. People in the United States are noticing this impact everywhere, from the gas pump to restaurants 4 .
You may have noticed your budget increasingly stretched thin, while promises of economic improvement seem disconnected from the financial strain you continue to experience. To add fuel to the fire, new economic policies and tariff directives have many Americans wondering how this will affect their bank account. You may be asking yourself: “How can I stop worrying about money all the time? When will we return to economic growth? What if I run out of savings?”
These questions are a symptom of anxiety and natural response to economic insecurity. However, it’s important to remember that you aren’t alone in these feelings, there’s help available, and there are ways to manage economic anxiety.
8 Tips For Managing Economic Anxiety
There are a multitude of factors that contribute to anxiety, but adopting healthy coping mechanisms for stress can prepare you for future triggers and support your path toward a healthy and positive life. Here are some practical tips for reducing the mental health effects of financial anxiety.
1. Identify the root of your financial anxiety
Truly understanding the primary driver of your anxiety can help you manage it. Is economic anxiety fueled by worries about diminished savings, job loss or insecurity, or a delayed retirement date? Pinpointing the source of your anxiety is the first step to tackling it.
This might mean seeking anxiety therapy to help you reframe negative thought patterns associated with money into more constructive ones. Unproductive thoughts may sound something like: “I’m bad with money and the economy is out of my control, that’s why I’m so stressed about money.” Consider reframing those narratives into something more results-oriented, such as: “I can’t control the economy, but I can control my financial literacy and improve my money habits. Every step toward progress can reduce my anxiety.”
Maintaining a positive, constructive, and realistic mindset in moments when you’re vulnerable to economic anxiety can alleviate a lot of your symptoms.
2. Ground your nervous system
Stress can disrupt your body’s normal functioning, so it’s important to ground yourself when you’re feeling the strain of economic anxiety. Grounding strategies to balance out your nervous system include meditation, journaling, yoga, and breathing exercises. These techniques work by counteracting the part of your nervous system responsible for stress response, which can reduce your heart rate, loosen your muscles, and promote steady breathing.
By regularly practicing mindfulness skills — even for just 5 to 15 minutes a day — you build resilience in stressful situations, and your nervous system will learn to regulate itself over time. Building on this foundation of calmness can help you navigate economic uncertainty with a clear head and less erratic emotions.
3. Practice cost-effective self care
Persistent economic anxiety can diminish your quality of life and lead to a lack of sleep, heightened anxiety, and tension headaches, so it’s imperative to practice affordable self care during these stressful times. Maintaining a nutritious diet and exercising supports mental health, and it doesn’t have to break the bank.
Resourcefulness is your friend as you navigate economic anxiety. Consider buying seasonal fruits and vegetables to comprise your meals, or shopping at local farmers markets where produce prices may not be as impacted by rising transportation prices.
If you have a gym membership, evaluate the pros and cons of putting a pause on your subscription, as many gyms allow you to resume payments after a set period. As an alternative, you can workout at a local park, follow a pilates YouTube video, or go on hikes with friends. Exercising at least 30 minutes a day can alleviate symptoms of mental health problems and reduce stress levels and anxiety. You receive natural dopamine boosts, preoccupy your mind, encourage socializing when you have a workout buddy, and promote better sleep, all of which can improve your mood and create a sense of accomplishment and well-being.
Other affordable self care modalities to consider include:
- Breathing exercises.
- Emotional awareness journaling.
- Engaging in cost-effective creative expression activities.
- Initiating at-home social gatherings.
- Dancing to music.
- Reading at the library.
- Developing gratitude awareness.
Related: Summer Mental Health Self-Care Checklist
4. Pick up affordable hobbies
There’s no way around it — some hobbies come with a price tag. If financial constraints mean your weekly pottery workshop or kickboxing class have to be temporarily paused, that’s okay — these activities will be waiting when the economy shifts.
While it’s natural to feel disappointed, this transition can be a great opportunity to get outside your comfort zone, explore new hobbies, and engage in self-discovery. Your options for cost-efficient hobbies are endless, so by keeping an open mind and listening to what resonates, you may discover your new passion. You might even find some second-hand skates at GoodWill and before you know it, roller skating is your newfound hobby.
In addition, sketching, painting, completing puzzles, joining a running club, writing poetry, and upcycling used materials can all be fun and engaging low-cost hobbies. If you’re feeling some first-attempt anxiety, worry not — there are countless videos and articles online that offer beginner tips and instructions to get you started.
5. Get creative with your time
Boredom can exacerbate feelings of anxiety and lead to self-destructive behaviors and costly self-medicating habits. To combat this, get creative with how you spend your time. Examples of this include cooking an affordable dinner with your friends where everyone brings an ingredient, hosting a game night, or having people over for karaoke.
These ideas might seem childish, but there’s nothing wrong with reconnecting with your inner child. Creativity can relieve stress, redirect anxious thoughts, promote mindfulness, and help you develop a stronger sense of identity. Remember, your only limits are your imagination, and finding the right balance between fun and frugal can be healthy.
6. Develop your financial literacy
One of the best ways to manage economic anxiety is by developing your financial literacy. When you truly understand a problem, you are better equipped to address it. And by building better money habits, you in turn reduce money-related worries.
The internet is filled with free resources to support you on your journey toward financial literacy, and your local public library likely has financial wellness books available for check out. There are also a plethora of online podcasts, YouTube videos, and articles with information on the stock market, debt management, and money-savvy tips.
7. Take notice of your debts
Once again, being mindful of your financial situation and how it’s affected by broader economic turmoil can help you take proactive action to address it. For example, you may struggle with credit card debt in the U.S., as many Americans do. Instead of waiting around for interest rates to increase, bank letters to arrive in the mail, and debt collectors to show up at your door, acknowledge your situation and develop a plan.
Additionally, people may have car loan debt, student loan payments, and mortgages. Anxiety about these debts can be extremely taxing, so the quicker you pay it off, the quicker you can feel a bit more secure — mentally and financially. Remember, every dollar counts, so even slowly chipping away at debt can leave you with a sense of progress.
If for any reason your debts become insurmountable, reach out to your lender. They might be able to create a more manageable payment plan, pause payments for a short period, or reduce your interest rate.
8. Seek professional help
If it feels like these tips and tricks aren’t doing enough to alleviate economic anxiety, it might be time to get professional help. The cost of psychiatry and therapy tend to be a concern for many, but most major insurance providers — like the ones accepted by Neuro Wellness Spa — will cover your therapy sessions at little to no cost.
Psychiatrists, therapists, and counselors alike can teach you coping mechanisms and provide an open and judgement-free space to discuss your concerns and emotions. Another benefit of therapy is that they can also help you process financial trauma, provide tools for emotional regulation, and identify your core values. These are all strategies that can help you address economic anxiety and set you on the path to mental wellness, sooner 5 .
Related: What Is Election Anxiety, and How Do You Manage It?
How Neuro Wellness Spa Can Help Manage Economic Anxiety
At Neuro Wellness Spa, we understand the impact that economic anxiety can have on your quality of life. At our treatment centers, our care team utilizes different therapy modalities, from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and talk therapy to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), psychiatry, and medication management to promote psychological healing and treat anxiety-related issues.
If applicable, our therapists may also use dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) — a method that can help you acknowledge the reality of the economy while adopting healthy coping techniques that can be used daily. Neuro Wellness Spa will schedule 13 weekly goal-oriented therapy sessions, allowing you to fully engage with your healing journey and focus on improving your financial situation.
Investing in your mental health can act as psychological insurance, protecting you from ending up in a deficit of anxiety. Call Neuro Wellness Spa today to help you navigate the world of economic anxiety with support and compassion.
References
- “How Economic Anxiety Shaped the Election.” Cuny.edu, 2024, www.gc.cuny.edu/news/how-economic-anxiety-shaped-election.
- “How to Deal with Financial Stress | JED.” The Jed Foundation, jedfoundation.org/resource/how-to-deal-with-financial-stress/.
- “How to Deal with Money Anxiety by Building Financial Wellness | the Jed Foundation.” The Jed Foundation, 16 Aug. 2023, jedfoundation.org/resource/how-to-deal-with-financial-stress-and-money-anxiety-by-building-financial-wellness/
- Robinson, Lawrence, and Melinda Smith. “Coping with Financial Stress – HelpGuide.org.” HelpGuide.org, 14 May 2020, www.helpguide.org/mental-health/stress/coping-with-financial-stress.