Distress over money can lead to sleeplessness, others —Expert

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that financial well-being and physical well-being are intimately linked. More and more people have been living under the heavy weight of bills, debt and expense money issues, so it is no wonder that stress is becoming more prevalent in society.

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Work and financial concerns are two of the biggest causes of stress for most people world over. But experts continue to warn that it can increase risks of several significant health problems such as heart attack, ulcers, migraines, stroke and back pain.

Although it is not surprising that the main source of stress for most people is money, in a study, experts said that people under significant financial stress were 13 times more likely to have a heart attack than those with no or minimal financial stress.

In a study, presented by the European Society of Cardiology at the 18th Annual Congress of the South African Heart Association, researchers indicated that moderate or severe work stress was associated with a 5.6-fold greater risk of having a heart attack, while significant financial stress was associated with 13-fold risk.

The study included 106 patients from a public hospital in Johannesburg who presented with a heart attack. They were matched for age, sex and race to a control group of 106 patients without a history of heart disease.

All participants completed a questionnaire about depression, anxiety, stress, work stress and financial stress in the previous month.

Patients were considered to have no financial stress if they were coping financially, mild stress if they were coping but needed support, moderate stress if they had an income but were in financial distress and significant stress if they had no income and struggled at times to meet basic needs.

The researchers found that 96 per cent of the heart attack patients reported significant stress during the prior month and that stress was severe for 40 per cent of them.

Both work and financial stress were most commonly linked to heart attack risk. Whereas work troubles raised heart risk 5.6 times, financial worries made people 13 times more likely to suffer a heart attack, compared to people with little-to-no stress.

Equally, the risk of a heart attack tripled if a person had experienced any level of depression from mild to extremely severe in the previous month compared to those with no depression.

Two of the most common effects of financial stress are anxiety and depression. These two conditions usually go hand-in-hand. Each one is a debilitating condition that makes it hard to focus at work, spend time with your family, and keep up with your bills and other financial responsibilities.

Anxiety can manifest in many ways, but most people that suffer with it report panic attacks where their chest feels like it is tightening. It becomes difficult to breathe, and it is often coupled with the unavoidable sense of impending doom.

Depression goes beyond just general feelings of sadness and self-doubt. The wide array of physical and mental symptoms associated with depression may include trouble sleeping, a change in appetite (overeating or under eating), a lack of interest in favourite activities, risk-taking behaviour, and particularly dark thoughts.

Financial stress-related heart disease is a big possibility because these days, money is a big deal. According to Dr Abiodun Adeoye, a consultant cardiologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, stress, irrespective of its cause makes the heart vulnerable to heart attack.

Stress is part of life and it affects individuals in different ways depending on the personality of such a person. But, Dr Adeoye declared that stressful situations such as emotional turbulences and work-related monotony financial distress and boredom can lead to hormonal fluctuations.

This, he said, may precipitate a heart problem, particularly in a vulnerable person who already is exposed to other risk factors like diabetes, bad cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and lack of exercise that aggravates the problem.

According to him, stress being an individual’s response to emotional and physical strain if left unmanaged can lead to emotional, psychological, and even physical problems, including heart disease, chest pains, or irregular heartbeats.

He declared, “stress can directly or indirectly affect the cardiovascular state and as such with background risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, or poor dietary habits, chronic stress serves as a catalyst for eventual heart failure.”

Dr Adeoye said. “The “fight-or-flight” response of the body during times of stress floods the body with adrenaline and cortisol, which increases heart rate, redirects blood flow to the muscular system, releases fats into the bloodstream for use as energy, increases breathing rate, tenses muscles, and increases the blood’s clotting ability.”

However, he stated that much as body response to stress is the same, irrespective of the type and person, it is even worse when the stressor is persistent, as is the case in the working environment and financial hardship.

What’s more, Dr Adeoye explained that regardless of whether stress is enough to cause heart disease on its own or it impacts other factors that lead to heart trouble, it is known that chronic stress negatively affects one’s health.

Moreover, a poll conducted by the Associated Press and AOL found that 27 per cent of people with high stress over finances reported ulcers or digestive problems versus eight per cent of people who did not worry about finances.

Additionally, 44 per cent of people financially stressed reported having migraines in comparison with four per cent of people with low financial stress. And 23 per cent of people with financial stress were depressed, compared with four per cent of people who were not stressed.

The study found also that highly stressed people were also 65 per cent more likely to suffer from back pain and muscle tensions than those with low stress. And 39 per cent of people with debt suffers from insomnia as compared to only 17 per cent of people not in debt.

The American Psychological Association (APA) recognises financial stress as the leading cause of unhealthy behaviours like smoking, weight gain, and alcohol and drug abuse. Other behaviours linked to financial stress are gambling and overextending credit balances.

European heart attack prevention guidelines say that psychosocial risk factor assessment should be considered in people with, or at high risk of, cardiovascular disease to identify possible barriers to lifestyle change or adherence to medication.

Stress can cause heart problems in several different ways. First, an excess of stress hormones can cause a heart attack. A heart attack occurs when a blockage forms in one of the arteries that supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle.

Severe stress causes the heart to beat more quickly and increases blood flow through vessels that may already be narrowed by arterial plaques. This makes the plaques more likely to rupture, which can, in turn, cause a blood clot and the ensuing heart attack.

But one’s response to stress may be more important than the stress itself. Experts recommend minimising one’s stress level by getting enough sleep, eating balanced diet, increasing physical activity, practicing relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing and foster mutually supportive relationships.