Amid the pandemic, a global mental health and financial crisis has emerged, triggering severe negative emotions, obsessive thoughts, and even suicidal ideation. Even before the pandemic, many adults, including many millennials, experienced financial stress. Addressing this challenge is a new book titled “Can Better Mental Health Fix My Finances: The Financial Mindset Fix,” authored by Joyce Marter, founder of Urban Balance.
Joyce Marter explains the interdependence between mental health and financial health, emphasizing that financial stress can lead to anxiety, depression, burnout, and even PTSD. Unaddressed mental health issues can further impair functioning at work and lead to compulsive spending, gambling, and other destructive behaviors. Promoting positive mental health, Marter argues, improves financial health by boosting self-esteem and fostering confidence and assertiveness.
The discussion delves into the chicken-and-egg scenario of whether financial health issues precede mental health issues or vice versa. Marter then outlines steps to improve both mental health and financial health. The first step involves recognizing how past experiences, such as parental relationships with money and financial traumas, shape one’s perspective on money.
The second step emphasizes personal empowerment, encouraging individuals to take control of their financial lives and cultivate daily mental wellness practices, including mindfulness techniques like meditation and yoga.
Finally, breaking through shame and accessing support is highlighted. Joyce Marter emphasizes the importance of breaking the silence surrounding financial struggles, comparing it to mental health issues. Seeking support from friends, family, financial advisors, or therapists opens up opportunities for problem-solving and solutions.
The conversation concludes with details about Marter’s upcoming book, which is available for pre-sales at financialmindsetfix.com and major retailers and has a release date of July 27. The book will also be available in audiobook format, addressing a crucial and timely subject that hasn’t been explored in this way before.
