Sources : MyHealth Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, http://myhealth.moh.gov.my/kesan-psikologi-akibat-masalah-kewangan/ 

Psychologists categorize stress into three categories, namely acute stress, episodic stress, and chronic stress.

Introduction

Life stress, difficulty facing life challenges and financial stress are often talked about lately. Financial ability can help individuals to provide the best life for family members. This also refers to planning for the future and enjoying the future in comfort. However, what will happen if we don't have money? When we are hit by misfortune such as job loss, household problems, bills piling up and so on. No one can avoid such a situation. Therefore, when we are in such financial trouble, what will happen to us psychologically? How do we control the psychological effects? To what extent are we able to accept it?

Financial crisis

If involved in a financial crisis, we will experience a variety of unpleasant emotional reactions. Being in a state of denial and not accepting the financial situation at hand, feelings of fear and panic and anger all playing out within us are some examples of reactions that are likely to occur. But perhaps the most common response is the least taken care of and often overlooked, which is stress.

Anita (2014) stated that individuals who are in crisis will develop stress when they continue to worry about this situation and ultimately make individuals unable to focus on their lives. This will prevent a person from carrying out tasks efficiently and perfectly. At that point, we are already suffering psychologically. So, for us to control the stress, we need to understand it first. Psychologists categorize stress into three categories, namely acute stress, episodic stress, and chronic stress.

Acute stress is the stress most experienced by all levels of society where the cause is due to daily demands and the pressures faced. The word "stress" may let us assume that it is not good but in reality acute stress gives us a feeling of joy and pleasure when the stress is in a small dose. Acute stress that is experienced too often is episodic stress . This kind of stress can often be seen in individuals who often set unrealistic goals or ambitions and experience stress as a resultfrom not being able to achieve those goals and ambitions. Episodic stress is different from chronic stress where it will disappear from time to time but it is also not as frequent as acute stress . While chronic stress is directly opposite to acute stress where this is dangerous and unhealthy. This type of stress is often caused by being exposed to the cause of stress for a long period of time and this stress can lead to physical and psychological health problems.

By being in a state of stress, three things will be affected the most, which are emotions, thoughts and also skills in making judgments. For example, emotions or feelings such as anger and sadness will affect the way we think to make decisions or actions that need to be taken then it also affects our judgment to do the best response. In short, the psychological effect of stress will affect our thinking process or also known as cognitive process. Economic hardship can also lead to depression. A study in the United States to test the psychological effects of being in economic distress in the era of the economic crisis in 1983 showed that we will experience stress and depression when we are in financial distress or crisis.

The study also showed that respondents were more likely to give up on planning for the future because they could not see themselves in a better financial situation. It is very important for us to continue to be aware of the consequences if we are not able to deal with problems when we are in financial difficulty. Financial problems also indirectly have an impact on children. They will react to their parents' situation by displaying bad behavior both at school and at home. Therefore, it is not surprising that children receive less stimulation that promotes learning. They have no interest in learning and at the same time it will be difficult for them to get peace of mind. As many know, children are like sponges where they absorb everything that happens around them because that is the way for them to learn. Therefore, it is very likely that when the children become adults and experience the same financial situation, their reactions will be similar to their parents or even worse.

For individuals who are working, it is necessary to prepare an umbrella before the rain. Learn to manage your finances wisely. Various information and applications can be used to obtain this knowledge. One can visit www.bnm.gov.my and get various tips to learn how to manage money wisely.

The psychological impact of being in financial trouble is very real, but in every problem there must be a solution and a way to deal with it. Acceptance is very important in facing such a situation because it will help us to try to see behind the problem and help to plan a solution. So seek appropriate help if necessary from family members, friends and professional help. Don't hide the problem and stay in the crisis situation for too long because it will only make the situation worse. Try to do something to change the critical situation and avoid being controlled by the crisis. We control the crisis and not the other way around. Most importantly, we must behave and think positively.

Every dark tunnel, there is always a light at the end. Whenever there is a crisis or hardship, there will always be a better day ahead as long as you don't give up and never get defeated by the crisis itself.

Reference:

1. Anita W. (2014) Educational Psychology. 12th Edition, Pearson New International Edition