Debtfree DIGI September 2016

The Way We Think About Negative Situations
It is a reality that somewhere, somehow something bad will happen to us. It might be small things
or maybe larger more serious stuff. Interestingly your attitude towards the situation makes a big
difference to your personal stress levels compared to other people going through the same
thing. For example, if your house is burgled and your laptop is stolen and you think to yourself
“It’s OK, my insurance will pay for a new one,” you’ll be far less stressed than if you think, “My
laptop is gone and I’ll never get it back! My life is over! What if the crooks come back to my house
to try rob me again?” While the first way of thinking reduces stress, the second only makes it
much worse. Since you have little control over what happens next your attitude can determine
if you are able to successfully deal with the situation or simply fall apart.
Unrealistic Expectations of yourself and others
No one is perfect. If you expect to do everything right every time then you are going to definitely
feel stressed when things don’t go 100% as expected. When you expect others to deliver 100%
you will be disappointed 100% of the time. No one is perfect.
Changes
They say moving homes can be a big cause of stress. Not just the packing and unpacking but the
underlying change in your situation. In fact, any big life change (good or bad) can be stressful.
Starting a new job or getting married, both of which are good things, can really stress you out.
Never mind more unpleasant thing in life. We all secretly hate change and it stresses us out.
Debt Stress
Worrying about debt is a extremely common source of stress in most peoples lives. With half of
all credit users in South Africa 3 months behind on some of their debt repayments this is one of
the most common causes of stress. One of the reasons why debt is so stressful is that it is often a
cause of worry for a very long time period. Unlike other things like a car accident, a death in the
family or divorce dealing with debt can be a ongoing situation that lasts for decades. According
to Kelly McGonigal, who is a health psychologist at Stanford University: “Our bodies are designed
to respond to … ‘emergencies’ and bounce back, whereas owing money can become completely
inescapable.” Several studies have shown that people who have bonds to pay off (normally over
decades) generally require more medical health care over time.
Also the way that credit providers go about collecting debt can be a source of stress. Scary
letters and harassing sms or visits from dodgy looking people who embarrass you or invade your
private space and threaten more and more trouble, if we don’t pay, are all designed to stress us
into paying no matter what.