I’ve written about it a lot over the years, and by “it” I refer to my six-figure credit card debt and how it affected me mentally, physically and spiritually. I speak of it routinely as I have addressed audiences across the U.S. and around the world. While my debt has been paid off for many years now (my gratitude knows no limits), I can recall and re-live the stress in a heartbeat — and I do, every time I talk about it. It’s real. It’s palpable.
For many years, I assumed I was the only one who’d ever experienced this — that I was an anomaly and a true nutcase. Why else would I continue down such a destructive path piling on more and more debt while finding new and improved ways to hide this from my husband? Why would I find the pain of the debt and the lengths to which I had to go to keep all my destructive plates spinning so much more desirable than the far less worse pain of facing what I was doing, coming clean and owning up?
Oh, the shame, the fear. I was afraid of being found out, but even more terrified that I couldn’t stop this thing that was spinning out of control. I couldn’t think, couldn’t sleep. And then it happened. I hit rock bottom. No more available credit. No more stories that would satisfy the collection calls. No more hiding. I began spiraling down into a deep, dark pit of despair — an emotional bottomless pit.
Turns out I’m not the only person on Earth who has ever experienced the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual effects of heavy debt and financial turmoil. What I experienced is real, its effects measurable. And now it has a name, thanks to scientific research and discovery.
According to Ryan Howes, PhD, in Psychology Today, acute financial stress (AFS) has a remarkable similarity to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resulting in many of the same symptoms as PTSD presenting problems with sleep, relationships, upsetting thoughts, emotional outbursts, avoidance, difficulty concentrating, being jumpy when the…
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