Recent reports of America’s economic instability, including record-high inflation and the Fed’s response by hiking interest rates, have led a majority of economists to predict that the country will head into a recession sometime in the next year. As demonstrated in the recent past, the effects of a national economic recession can quickly reverberate throughout society and have negative impacts on millions of citizens’ lives and mental health.
This is a situation that we have, unfortunately, found ourselves in before. The Great Recession, which lasted from 2007-2009, saw the national unemployment rate peak at 10 percent in October 2009. Just over a decade later, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked another, more abrupt and dramatic recession, with the unemployment rate peaking at nearly 15 percent in April 2020 amid broad shutdowns and contact restrictions.
Both of these recessions, and the hardships they created, particularly for working-class and lower-income Americans, led to marked increases in mental health conditions. Studies have shown that people who experienced even a single recession impact (such as financial, housing or job-related losses) between 2007-2009 had a higher likelihood of adverse mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and substance use, up to three years after the Great Recession ended. And our nation also saw increased rates of deaths of despair in the first year of the pandemic, with nearly 187,000 Americans dying from mental health-related causes in 2020.
As heartbreaking as the numbers are, they’re not difficult to comprehend if you consider the weight that is placed on those impacted. A recent survey showed around 64 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck – that is, with no money left over once bills and monthly expenses are accounted for. Even among people who purport to have some savings, more than half say they would be unable to cover an unexpected emergency expense, such as a medical bill, of $1,000.
For an overwhelming majority of people, their very ability to live, to provide for their families, and to receive medical care is inextricably linked to their employment. Imagine the stress of losing all of that in one fell swoop and suddenly having to scramble to find new work with no safety net, nothing to fall back on. If left unaddressed, that stress can sometimes grow and manifest in very destructive ways, yet many who would benefit from things like counseling or therapy will delay seeking help in an effort to keep their bills paid and fridge stocked.
Using our recent economic history as both a warning and a guide, our leaders and policymakers should take steps to mitigate the widespread hardship that Americans are likely to face if – or when – the next major recession indeed comes to pass. We need broad, inclusive policies that make accessing mental health care easier and more affordable for everyone. This includes integrating mental health and addiction care into primary care and removing administrative barriers like referrals and prior authorizations that only serve to delay and deny care to people. But perhaps even more simply, it’s having mental health experts at the table to highlight how mental health will be affected and what actions should be taken to help.
While we still may be months or years away from the next economic crisis, plenty of people are hurting already. If you are feeling the financial impact of inflation or find yourself losing sleep over the thought of a recession, there are a few ways to better prioritize mental health:
Evaluate emotions and stress levels. Ignoring symptoms such as stress and anxiety only gives them time to grow beyond your control, and the sooner you acknowledge them, the sooner you can take steps to improve your quality of life. In stressful times, it’s important to remember that it’s okay to not be okay. Talk to friends and family – reach out to loved ones and just tell them how you are doing.
Examine the root cause. Budgets, debt, job security and a host of other factors can contribute to stress and anxiety around finances. Take note of when these feelings arise and consider what proactive steps you can take to combat them, whether that is talking to a financial planner or mental health professional. Of course, some of these factors are out of our control, which is all the more reason to create positive and effective coping strategies for yourself.
Prioritize care today. Stress management techniques, consuming a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and prioritizing sleep are all small ways that you can begin to reduce stress and anxiety in daily life. For those who are experiencing more severe symptoms, I strongly encourage you to talk to a person in the health care system you have a relationship with – from you primary care physician to a psychologist.
Finally, it bears mentioning that, while they are nothing to look forward to, recessions are considered to be a natural part of the ebb and flow of an economy as massive and complex as ours and are often followed by periods of relative economic growth and prosperity. I don’t say that to minimize or downplay the very real consequences that recessions can have on our fellow Americans, only to illustrate that if we can weather the tough times, things will always get better.
Oof. I feel this.
Family caregiving broke my personal bank (along with some intersecting dumba$$ery involving my late husband's business practices) back in the early '00s.
Then cancer shenanigans, with basically "meh" insurance coverage, came along in '07-'08, followed by being uninsured '09 to '14.
Earning a living has been hard, since I'm a comms expert selling services from a patient/user POV, calling for #PatientsIncluded in all parts of policy, care delivery design, system design, et al. Which still gets me blank stares from the C-suite folks on the receiving end of the $4 trillion a year revenue hose that is the US healthcare system.
I manage to cobble together a small living between my Social Security, along with original Medicare + supplement medical coverage. Which has eased my path - the Medicare thing - as I deal with my Stage IV cancer recurrence.
Stress? Anxiety? Yeah, we got that here. But there's still the one foot in front of the other requirement to keep the wheels on the bus, and a roof over one's head.
So ... onward.