David Podley interviews Dr. Joe Dilley about emotions that come up when dealing with tough financial times. Dr. Dilley is a clinical psychologist based in South Pasadena, California.
It’s dangerous to invest ourselves too much into straightening out our finances because we can end up dwelling on either our personal finances or the finances of our country.
Dwelling on finances is easy because we spend money every day, whether on bills, at the gas pump, or groceries. The danger of dwelling on finances is that because so many people are struggling in this area, there is a potential for the dwelling to snowball into almost an obsession.
Specific problems with dwelling on negative things, researchers are finding that we actually burn out the neurons in our brains.
The tough thing about finances is that even people who aren’t obsessive or “dwellers” by nature can find themselves in a deep rumination cycle.
Taking Care of Ourselves
We don’t want to avoid things by not opening bank statements or not talking with our partners about finances, but we want to strategically time when we look at our finances. Don’t open a bunch of bills before going into a stressful situation. At the end of a tough day, it’s okay to take some time to relax before digging into a stack of bills.
Take time to get away from things. Work on your garden, play with your kids, or exercise. Do the things that make you come alive. Sometimes you should even find a quiet space where you’re simply thinking.
Changes in Our Lifestyle
People are staying at home for vacation, entertaining at home, and otherwise getting back to a simpler lifestyle in order to both save money and simply simplify.
Our Past Struggles with Money Can Affect Us Now
Healthy ways to deal with our financial past include getting some good, objective input on your current situation, whether through a financial planner or an accountant, in order to better understand whether you are seeing things as they really are or if you’re unduly influenced by past memories. You may also want to talk with a therapist about past issues to get beyond past economic burns.
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