Friday, 18 December 2009 13:41 Last Updated on Tuesday, 27 July 2010 14:41
Our economy has been affected by the global economic recession, and this is making life more difficult for many of us. Some will be facing redundancy, a reduction in pay, a change of working hours, loss of invested money, the increased cost of living, or difficulty finding a job.
It's normal and understandable to feel stressed and anxious in difficult situations like these. It can be hard for everyone involved, especially people already stretched to meet the needs of their family.
It's really important to take care of yourself when things get tough - and don't feel bad about asking for help when you need it. It's also important to look out for your family and friends. We can make it through hard times by pulling together using our strengths to do what we can for each other.
Here are some things you can do to help you manage your stress and feel more in control of things again.
- Talk openly about what's going on for you, with people you trust. It can help you and the people around you to understand what is happening and work out how to deal with it.
- It's important to look after all aspects of your health. This includes physical health, mental health, spiritual health and the health of your family
- Get physically active. It helps to reduce stress and improve your mood.
- Try walking, swimming, dancing, playing sport or gardening. Learning yoga, tai chi, meditation or breathing exercises can also be effective in reducing stress. Choose something you enjoy and make a plan to do some kind of activity every day.
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You might enjoy this more with a friend or get the whole family involved.
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Getting a good night's sleep is important. It's a good idea to avoid alcohol and recreational drugs, which not only make it harder to manage stress, but also cost money.
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Plan time to relax and stay in touch with people you care about.
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Make a plan for how you are going to spend each day.
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Take time to think through hard decisions. See the solving problems section for some advice for approaching problems.
Looking after your family
Financial problems can affect everyone close to you. It's important to talk to your family about your situation and how you are dealing with it. Some tips for supporting them during times of financial stress are:
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Work together to set goals and make a clear and realistic budget and plan to get through the situation. You may like to hold a family/whanau meeting to talk about how everyone can contribute.
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Get advice about money.
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You may like to explain your situation to your children. It's a good idea to do this in a calm and simple way. Explain that it's no one's fault - there are lots of families having difficulty at the moment.
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Talk to your children about money. Explain that a certain amount of money comes in regularly and talk about what you normally spend it on. This may help when they ask for things the family cannot afford.
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Think about letting your extended family know of your situation. They may be able to help with child care, finding a job, a loan or advice on managing money.
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Keep having fun and spending time with family and friends. There are lots of things you can do and places you can go that are free, or cost just a little.
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Make sure you and your children don't go without essentials. Spend your money on things like food, rent or mortgage payments, heating, clothes and school costs first.
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Check in with your family/whanau regularly to see how they are feeling.
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The most valuable thing you can give your loved ones is time.
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Remember, to be able to take care of your loved ones, you need to make sure you look after yourself.
How to recognise the signs that you might need extra support
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Feeling down, depressed or hopeless often
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Feeling angry, frustrated or irritable more than usual
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Having little interest or pleasure in doing things you used to enjoy
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Feeling worried or anxious often. This anxiety can cause physical symptoms like pain, a pounding heart or stomach cramps
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Feeling restless
Have you experienced some of the following for longer than two weeks?
- Low self-esteem
- Loss of energy or feeling tired
- Finding it hard to concentrate or make decisions
- Feelings of emptiness or loneliness
- Thinking about death
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Loss of interest in sex
- A change in appetite or weight loss or gain
Everyone feels down from time to time and it's normal for people to get stressed when they are facing problems with money. However, if you are finding your thoughts and emotions overwhelming, you may need some extra support.
Solving problems
When people are faced with problems, they often choose to ignore them (until they get worse) or avoid them (until they return).
Structured Problem Solving is a technique that can help you to tackle and resolve the challenges you face. You can use it for big challenges (like finding a job) or for smaller challenges (like how to get more sleep or exercise).
The key is to work through a problem one step at a time and be realistic about what you can achieve. It helps to write down each step.
Step 1 Define the problem
Start by writing down all the problems you currently face. Pick one you think you can tackle in the next couple of weeks. Detail the problem by thinking about: why, what, when, where, who? Sum up the problem in a sentence – this will help you focus on it during the next steps.
Step 2 Look for solutions to resolve the problem
Get creative and write all your ideas down, no matter how unusual they sound.
Donâ't try and assess them until you've finished making your list. Then pick the solution you think would be most effective and weigh up the advantages and disadvantages to see how it would resolve the problem. If you have trouble choosing the best solution, try comparing a couple of possibilities.
Step 3 Make a plan to put the solution into practice
Your plan should have enough detail to tell you what you will need, who can help you and how and when you need to complete the tasks. Once you've got your plan it's time to make it happen!
Step 4 Review your progress
Think about what worked, what didn't, and why. If you didn't resolve the issue by your target date, think about how you could change your plan. If you did resolve it “well done". Now you can start on the next problem on your list.
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