For many Arkansans, financial struggles can lead to stress or sometimes embarrassment. Here’s a closer look at the psychology behind affordability and mental health.<\/p>\n
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. \u2014 Inflation, prices, and the economy are topics that come up every time we have an election, but for many people, they\u2019re at the top of mind year-round.<\/p>\n
This is despite the fact that the economy is doing well right now, according to Jeremy Horpedahl, an associate professor of economics at the University of Central Arkansas. He said that by all the official metrics, the economy is in decent shape.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnemployment is at almost the lowest it’s ever been,\u201d Horpedahl said. \u201cWages are continuing to grow, even though prices are going up. In general, wages have been outpacing price increases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet, he acknowledges that the average American doesn\u2019t seem to feel that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at consumer sentiment about the economy, and how people feel about it, it’s actually kind of the worst it’s been,\u201d Horpedahl said. \u201cEqual to what it was in the depths of the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
He mentioned layoffs and uncertainty about things like AI and tariffs as possible reasons; plus, less confidence equals less spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people are uncertain, they’ll spend less money,\u201d Horpedahl said, \u201cAnd if they’re spending less money, then that’s going to lead to less job creation and less economic activity. So, I think sometimes it becomes a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of whether wages or inflation are going up or down, Adam Dodd, a social worker at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, knows what he means since a large percentage of his patients are struggling financially.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say just kind of off the top of my head, 60-70% of clients report affordability issues that ultimately impact their mental health,\u201d Dodd said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s something Gary Winkler, who lives in Pulaski County and teaches at Pulaski Technical University, struggles with.<\/p>\n
He teaches part-time, which means he spends roughly four months of the year without a paycheck, including a recent two-month period.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been off contract,\u201d Winkler explained. \u201cSo, I don’t have a paycheck from December 15 to February 15. I [also] suffer from bipolar disorder and anxiety disorder.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Winkler, who lives in an RV with his service dog, usually saves up to pay for these time periods.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI always put $100 a paycheck in savings,\u201d Winkler said. \u201cThat way I have some left over from the summer months.\u201d<\/p>\n
But this year, his dog hurt his back, his car wouldn\u2019t start, and the brakes stopped working. His total cost of repairs and vet bills was $1,800.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat totally wiped out my savings,\u201d Winkler said. \u201cSo, I had to borrow money from a relative.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that this financial stress often manifests itself as things like panic attacks, as well as deep embarrassment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I feel like a failure because I can’t manage it on my own,\u201d Winkler said. \u201cI’m also on SNAP, and so sometimes I get embarrassed if I go into the store and have to use the food stamp card.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Dodd said those feelings are normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a stigma associated with financial stress that a lot of people experience,\u201d Dodd said, \u201cWhich ultimately leads to more mental health-related issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
That can lead to one of the most damaging positions a person can be in, as we learned during the pandemic, which is isolation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very hard for that person to admit that they may not be able to do certain things because of the cost,\u201d Dodd said, \u201cAnd so this often tends to cause people to isolate from other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
With financial struggles also come difficult choices, which can lead to more stress. Dodd said in a lot of cases, people often can\u2019t afford the mental help they need.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s either I can seek help or get groceries this week,\u201d Dodd described. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c$20 is a tank of gas,\u201d Winkler added. \u201c$20 is four days on my prepaid electric. $20 is two-thirds of my phone bill. So, it’s like, \u2018Okay, do I want McDonald’s, or do I want to have electricity for four days?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dodd said that despite these pressures, you need to have compassion for yourself if you\u2019re struggling. Additionally, community resources and having empathy for each other are key.<\/p>\n
It’s especially important because, unfortunately, these problems probably aren\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have this feeling that these prices we experienced in the past may never be coming back,\u201d Horpedahl said. \u201cI think that makes a lot of people pessimistic about the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a recent study from the U.S News and World Report, Arkansas ranked first in affordability among all fifty states. The state also ranked 47th in average household income.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many Arkansans, financial struggles can lead to stress or sometimes embarrassment. Here’s a closer look at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-307156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}