Financial anxiety

What It Means

Financial anxiety is worry, dread or unease about money that doesn't go away: about bills, debt, or whether you're handling your finances well. Researchers writing in the JournalJournalingWriting down your thoughts and feelings, in a notebook or an app, to understand them more clearly and to see what's behind your stress. See more of Financial Therapy, building on work by Kristy Archuleta and colleagues, define it as an anxious attitude toward managing your own money, or anxiety symptoms tied to your financial situation. When the worry is hard to control or is affecting your health, a doctor or a licensed therapist can assess it.

How It Sounds at Home

• "I can't even look at my bank app right now."
• "Every time the phone rings I think it's a bill collector."
• "I know the money's there, but I still feel sick about it."

The Breakdown

A short example. Dana owes $4,000 on a credit card after a car repair and a slow month at work. She stops opening the card statements, lies awake doing sums, and snaps at her partner when he asks about the weekend. A payment goes past its due date, a late feeLate feeA charge added when a payment arrives after its due date, set by the card agreement, lease or contract and limited by federal or state rules. See more lands, and the balance she was avoiding gets bigger.

Where it goes wrong. Avoiding the numbers feels like relief for a day, while the late fees and interestInterest rateThe yearly percentage a lender charges for borrowing money, not counting fees; the APR adds certain fees to show a fuller cost. See more keep adding up. The APA has an article on this habit, which it calls financial denial, and on facing the numbers instead. Money stress also spills into sleep, health, work and relationships, which research in the Journal of Financial Therapy links to financial anxiety.

What to watch for

• Sleep lost to money thoughts on more nights than not.
• Unopened mail, or an app you won't open.
• Headaches, an upset stomach or snapping at people when money comes up.
• Coping with a drink, a cigarette, a bet or a snack instead of a plan.

What can help. Start with one number: open the statement and write down the balance and the due date. Then list every bill with its date on one page. Call the card company about a payment plan, or ask a nonprofit credit counselorCredit counselingAdvice from a trained counselor, usually at a nonprofit agency, on your budget and debts, which can lead to a debt management plan or other next steps. See more to go through it with you. If the worry stays heavy after the numbers are on paper, talk with a doctor or a psychologist.

Where It Comes From

Kristy Archuleta and colleagues published a Financial Anxiety Scale in 2011: seven statements, rated on a seven-point scale, about things like feeling anxious over your finances and losing sleep because of them. Research in the Journal of Financial Therapy describes it as a tool for financial planners, counselors and educators to notice when someone may need a referral to another professional.

Good to Know

The American Psychological Association says money stress can show up as headaches, stomachaches and trouble sleeping, and that some people ease it in unhealthy ways such as smoking, drinking, gambling or emotional eatingEmotional eatingEating in response to feelings like stress, worry or tiredness rather than physical hunger, often quickly and often more than you meant to. See more. If the stress stays overwhelming, the APA suggests talking with a psychologist, and it points to credit counseling services and financial planners for help with the money itself. Anyone having thoughts of harming themselves should contact emergency services or a crisis line right away.

Related Terms and Categories

• Scarcity mindset

  The narrowed focus that comes from having too little money or time, which pulls attention to the shortage and leaves less mental room for everything else.

• Money mindset

  The beliefs and attitudes about money you carry, many of them learned in childhood, that shape how you spend, save and talk about it.

• Money script

  A deeply held and often unnoticed belief about money, usually learned in childhood, that shapes how you spend, save and manage money as an adult.

• Emergency fund

  Money set aside only for unplanned costs, like a car repair, a medical bill or a lost paycheck, kept where you can reach it quickly.

• Credit counseling

  Advice from a trained counselor, usually at a nonprofit agency, on your budget and debts, which can lead to a debt management plan or other next steps.

• Paycheck to paycheck

  Spending all of one paycheck before the next arrives, so there's little or nothing left over in between.

Household money and budgeting