How To Stop Debt From Ruining Your Mental Health
The percentage of professional economists who plan to continue working beyond their 70th birthdays is much higher than the total percentage of total workers who do not plan to retire before age 70. Ask these economists why they are delaying indefinitely, and they will tell you that it is because their work is so much fun that they never want to stop working. Sure, thinking about money all day long is a lot of fun when you have more money than you need, but when even you will finish the month even deeper in debt than you started, no matter how well you adhere to your budget, then thinking about money is stressful. In fact, the mere mention of it can set off your fight or flight response and inhibit your ability to make mathematical judgments quickly. On an episode of the Freakonomics podcast No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth describe how math word problems involving money and prices are much harder for students who have experienced poverty, because it is harder for them to look past the scarcity and just calculate the numbers. Financial hardship can wreck your mental health, especially when debt collectors are constantly bombarding your phone and email with increasingly aggressive communications about your debt. The first step toward getting out of this nightmare is to contact a Miami debt lawyer.
Debt Collector Harassment Is Harassment
When you tell debt collectors that you can’t afford to pay, they don’t leave you alone. When you ignore their communications, they don’t leave you alone. In fact, anything you do to get them to leave you alone seems to make them bolder. If you are polite to them, they smell your fear. If you are nasty to them, they are even nastier to you. The way that creditors and collection agencies behave toward people who can’t pay their debts is nothing short of harassment.
Michelle Jackson of the Michelle Is Money Hungry podcast says that debt collector harassment harmed her mental health, and her anxiety remained even after she had paid off $60,000 in debt. She compares her hypervigilance and anxiety in relation to debts and debt-related communications to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although she does not say whether a doctor has diagnosed her with PTSD. She is now seeking the help of a financial therapist.
Advocate for Yourself With the Help of a Debt Lawyer
A debt lawyer can help you escape the tyranny of debt collector harassment in more than one way. First, your lawyer can send a formal request to creditors, asking them not to contact you about your debts. When they receive the request, they must stop contacting you. Next, your lawyer can help you choose the best strategy for tackling your debts, whether that involves negotiating settlements with creditors, filing for bankruptcy, or consolidating your debts.
Standing Up to Bullies By Tackling Your Debt
Addressing your debt is the first step to getting to a situation where debt collectors can no longer bully you. Contact the Miami debt lawyers at Nowack & Olson, PLLC for help today.
Resource:
businessinsider.com/personal-finance/seeking-emotional-help-after-drowning-in-debt-for-years-2021-11
