Regine Muradian, clinical psychologist and National Debt Relief Financial Wellness board member, joins Cheddar News to discuss how debt impacts our mental health.

Between Bells

Expert Offers Tips to Deal With Debt 

now one of the most stressful things. Top of mind for a lot of people money and as inflation continues to rise along with other everyday costs like gas. While the line between stress and mental health continues to get blurb just being a credit card holder can increase stress, especially for those already experiencing mental health issues. So joining us now discusses clinical psychologist and national debt relief, financial wellness board member Dr region Moravian Dr Moratti. And that's such a pleasure to have you here. Thanks so much for joining us. According to a recent survey, people lose 200 hours of sleep per year and they have over their debt and they have three debt nightmares apparently a week. So what are the effects of debt when it comes to our mental health here? Um so being in debt is overwhelming as it is and people really have felt as if they've lost control of their lives and in fact a survey that was done by national debt really found that 69% of respondents said being in debt has made them withdraw from the things that they love to do And 70% felt like a black cloud. Um an analogy like that hanging over them went in debt. So This loss of control certainly triggers fear of the unknown and an embarrassment. Okay, so let's go through some other really shocking numbers in this study, three and five Americans have considered putting off marriage just to avoid inheriting their partner's debt. And even more than that, 54% believe having a partner who was in debt is a major reason to consider divorce or are these numbers really that true. What's your thoughts on this? Yes, definitely. I mean this this heavy burden of debt when you really think about it, it can make a person feel very trapped and isolated from other people. Um which in turn really write, it impacts your relationships with friends and family and spouses. Um So certainly these numbers um are very telling of how people are feeling emotionally and psychologically. Okay, so 69% of respondents also according to this survey said that being in debt has made them withdraw from things that they love. I mean obviously saving money for a rainy day fund, having an emergency fund. All of those things are incredibly important here. But how should people go about living their everyday lives doing things that they love? We're also saving at the same time. Yes. So we bring up an important point in terms of what are some important daily mental health tips to keep in mind. Um as you are feeling a lot of these triggers. So one of the things is practicing one activity that you really want to do for yourself that you enjoy and that could be anything from exercising to reading to talking to a friend. Um anything that makes you feel happy. Uh The other piece that's important is practicing shifting your mindset from a negative thought to a positive one. Um and this can happen within seconds. So reframing for example if you're feeling really overwhelmed or feeling worthless or any of those negative feelings saying to yourself I'm in debt to I have a plan to get out of debt. Um and also one of my favorites is creating a self care emergency kit where you could have a notepad with pen in there. Um Some a list of movies that you like. Uh certainly some people love to put candy in their stress ball, whatever it is that makes you feel good. Okay, so for those who need a little help with their debt or their savings, what sort of are your top tips out there for our viewers out there that maybe just need a little bit more information here on what to do. Yes. So one of the things that is important is establishing a plan first and which is it all comes back down to control. Uh and that's where resources like national debt relief can really help because they are the leading debt relief organization that has helped over 450,000 people settle their debt. So having a plan in place where you feel like you're getting back control with the aid of an organization like that could be very, very helpful. Um we also have to get past the stigma right? So I always encourage open communication so that you avoid the tension in your relationships and feelings of isolation. Okay. And then obviously if it's impacting our sleep now and our mental health, that's also a huge concern here, how do you sort of separate that the actual numbers of whatever you may be owing from your mental health, How do you sort of separate those things? So at least you're sort of living sort of peacefully in a mindful sense? Yes. So I think it goes back again to establishing a plan and feeling like you have control over the situation when you talk about sleep for depression and anxiety, these are these occur because you feel like you don't have any control over your life. So we go back to again when I go back to national debt relief, that's one of the wonderful things is that you feel that you have some sort of plan or you have that helping hand think about it. Like a therapist or someone there that is there to support you to break down and see the light at the end of the tunnel because when you're sleepless and you can't sleep and you're thinking constantly about your debt or how you're going to get out of it, it's because of a loss of control. So it's all about gaining back control. And finally, I have about 90 seconds here left with you. For those who maybe have debt and maybe they just think to themselves, there's no way I'm gonna be able to get out of it? I have dug myself too big of a hole. What's your advice to those people? So it goes back to really? Um And I really hope that whoever is watching this can really take this on in terms of their personal life. When we if we put that aside and we're thinking about anything else in our life. We're talking about maybe losing weight or we're talking about making any type of life shift changes. It all comes back with awareness and being aware of the problem and recognizing what the trigger is and then eventually creating a plan. So that's one of the most important things is that when you start becoming in your awareness of whatever the trigger is, then you see the light at the end of the tunnel, then you can start seeing success coming to you. All right, thank you so much to dr regime Moradi and clinical psychologist. The national debt relief financial wellness board member. Thank you so much for joining us and giving us your tips here.