Downturn takes mental health toll
The current economic conditions may be having an adverse impact on the men_tal health of financial services profession_als, their families and their clients, accord_ing to the chief executive of the Inspire Foundation, Kerry Graham.
The downturn in share markets and uncertainty around the global economy has the potential to cause significant stress, anxiety and even depression for those working in the industry. Some clients of financial planners may also be suffering from these afflictions as a result of mar_ket-related and other financial pressures.
“There are a lot of complex factors that play into mental health difficulties and economic conditions are definitely one of those factors,” she said.
According to Graham, factors that may be causing mental health difficulties include personal financial stress, stress about performing well at work in an increasingly challenging environment as well as fears about job security.
“All of those things cre_ate stress and anxiety, which can be harmful to people’s mental health, and especially if they already have an underlying mental health issue, it may com_pound into something more serious.”
Issues that may be par_ticular to the financial serv_ices industry include the fact that many profession_als in this industry “know what’s coming ahead of the rest of the population, so they feel the stress where others may not”.
Furthermore, where financial services profes_sionals “feel a sense of responsibility, this would increase stress levels con_siderably”, Graham said.
While most people are aware of the “massive rip_ple effect from a stock market crash economical_ly”, there is also a ripple effect in terms of increased mental health issues.
“One of the great pro_tective factors that supports good mental health is a sense of control over your environment. Events such as share market crashes are things that are out of our control but affect us so directly. That sense of loss of control has flow-on effects,” Graham said.
“People will be looking to [financial services pro_fessionals] for advice to appease their sense of a lack of control and I think that employees of your industry will be experienc_ing increasing numbers of stressed people asking questions that they may not have the answers to.”
By Lucinda Beaman www.beyondblue.org.au
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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