Getting Through A Recession Emotionally

There are a lot of scared and worried people out there right now. If you’re one of them, maybe you could use some of the advice Tina Su gives at her Think Simple Now site on how to overcome fear during the current economic crisis. Rather than dwelling on the problems and feeling worse and worse, Tina has several useful pieces of advice for how to emotionally survive the recession:

• Focus on what you’re able to control: For example, accept that you can’t control the stock market, but you can control your reaction to what happens to your stocks.
• Reduce news consumption: In crisis times, people tend to glue themselves to the TV to find out all the latest (bad) news - just stick to getting the basics instead and don’t make yourself more depressed.
• Be grateful: Don’t think about what you’re losing or can’t have - focus on what you have to be happy about and grateful for, like family and friends.
• Remember that things will get better: The economy runs in cycles. Things will bounce back, although we can’t be sure when.
• Make sure you have an emergency fund: Just in case you lose your job or have unexpected expenses, you should always have an emergency fund, but in times like these it’s even more important to save part of your income every month.
• Choose to be happy: Learn more about maintaining a positive attitude to life and choosing happiness rather than a negative emotion.