Mental Health & Inflation

​Is the high cost of living affecting your mental health?

You are not alone.

Let’s face it, we’re all noticing how inflation is impacting our wallets and causing financial insecurity for some, but we also need to recognise how it impacts our mental health.

Many Canadians, especially British Columbians, are facing financial insecurity due to the high cost of living. The media informs us frequently that individuals and families are struggling to put food on the table, while finding it difficult to pay their rent/mortgage. This is further exacerbated with increasing food and gas prices while dealing with car payments, daycare, insurance costs and utilities, to name a few.

Plus, people are more burden with debt than ever before, as many are borrowing off their credit cards to make ends meet. This can all bring stress and tension for individual and couples, which in turn affect the family.

Young adults are faced with the reality that owning a home in BC may not be a reality despite their education and decent paying jobs. As a result, most are faced paying exuberantly high rental costs or remaining at home with their parents for longer than expected. Young adults, despite their best efforts, are discouraged that their dreams are out of reach, which can lead to despair.

Lower income populations are most vulnerable to mental health issues related to financial insecurity, as they tend to live in unsafe and insecure housing, seek help from food shelters and not have the finical resources to seek mental health. There are mental health resources for low come individuals, but the waiting list can be quite long.

So, what can we do?

As the high cost of living can cause major stress and anxiety for us all, it’s important to reach out and not deal with it alone.

Here are several strategies that we can all do:

Take time out to relax

When we put our mental health and self care top of our priority list, we win. we could go for a walk, play with our children or pets, or read a book. A little break from the stresses of life can do wonders.

Make time for physical activities.

You could go for a run, work out, do yoga or stretching exercises, to get some of the tension out of your body.

Talk to people who are in the same boat.

Friends and family can provide a great sense of connectiveness, knowing you are not alone.

Reach out to a mental health care professional.

We can provide the best professional support to help deal and cope with the mental strain that inflation has put on us all.

Take action.

For example, reach out to respected and experienced professionals in the finance industry, such as, mortgage brokers, financial planners, to find out what’s within your control to do.