TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Battling The Economic Blues

Highlands Today photo illustration by Jasmina Meyer

John McNeal, clinical social worker at Daybreak with Florida Hospital, defines harmful anxiety as feeling completely stuck, hopeless and helpless, and thinking the worst is about to happen.

ADVERTISEMENT

By BILL RETTEW JR.

Highlands Today

Published: December 7, 2008

SEBRING - Gasoline prices, inflation and a stock market plunge led more Highlands County residents than usual to reach out and seek help.

Several local professional counselors said visits to mental health professionals are up, as the economy hit a low during the ongoing recession.

Michael C. Hartman, licensed psychotherapist, is hearing more clients than before talk about how the quality of their lifestyle is suffering because their purchasing power is reduced.

"Does self-worth equal net worth in a very difficult economy?" Hartman said he asks his clients.

And when someone loses a job, not just their finances change.

When a job is lost, it can become a matter of pride. Someone who takes employment for less money and at a job with less prestige can easily become depressed. And for many of those who continue to stay employed, the workload has doubled, which increases the stress levels, said Hartman.

"It's almost abuse," said Hartman. "Everybody is afraid of losing their jobs."

Hartman said that depression related to a sour economy can cause increased drinking, smoking and heart attacks.
Anxiety Levels Increase

John McNeal, clinical social worker at Daybreak with Florida Hospital, said more clients recently suffered from anxiety caused by the poor economy than any other problem.

"Anxiety always comes when you don't have enough information," said McNeal. "It's like the doctor coming in and saying, 'We got your results back from the test,' and then he turns around and leaves the room.

"It creates a vacuum of information."
McNeal said we are trained to seek more information when we don't understand.

"We normally go get the information," said McNeal. "We Google it, look it up.

"But in this case, there's nothing to Google. We've got a severe case of what ifs?'"
McNeal defines harmful anxiety "as feeling completely stuck, hopeless and helpless, and thinking the worst is about to happen."

Everyone suffers from anxiety caused by the current economy and has become more skeptical, according to McNeal.

"It appears that even the people at the top don't know what to do," he said. "We've become very wary of promises. They really don't know how to fix this thing."
McNeal believes that more news coverage isn't always a good thing.

"We're almost overwhelmed with information. Sit in front of a 24/7 news station for any amount of time and you're going to get anxious."
McNeal also said that anxiety can lead to other problems, including lack of sleep, poor diet, damaged family relationships and a mental health imbalance, all of which can spurn even more serious problems.

Economy Causes Separation

Lorri Gaither lives in Lake Wales and makes a regular 70 mile round trip commute to her job in Sebring.

Her husband was forced to move more than 1,000 miles away in September and Gaither said the couple might not even get together for the holidays.

Gaither might eventually make the move north to be with her husband of 16 years, who is working for a family business.

"It makes me feel like we're doing what we have to do to keep our house and pay our bills," said Gaither.

Gaither learned from the experience.

"Everybody's having the same problems, regardless of whether they had a lot or didn't have a lot before," she said. "I'm up and down. But I realized in a lot of ways we have to be thankful since a lot of people have it a lot worse. At least we had this opportunity."

A Church Looks To Scripture For Answers

Jeff Endsley is one of three pastors and works in pastoral care, with both men and couples, at Grace Bible Church.

"Everything is Bible based - people helping people," said Endsley. "Just listening to the things that are going on in the lives of folks reminds you of scripture.

"God has the solutions to all our problems and God is able to do more than we can wish or imagine. God is always faithful."

When counseling, Endsley quotes scripture, but stays away from conventional therapy.

"We're a Christ-centered ministry looking to the Bible for health and healing, strength and hope," said the pastor.

But How To Help?

Hartman strongly believes that cognitive therapy using coping mechanisms will help someone to self-actualize.

Hartman helps clients understand and deal with their expectations. He teaches others to count their blessings. We shouldn't even take anything as basic as potable water for granted, since some in this world don't have it.

"What you have is very important," he tells clients. "It's not what you don't have. We're blessed to be here in this country."

Through cognitive therapy, the psychoanalyst attempts to help determine what is valuable to someone and what their philosophy for life is."

Endsley hopes to show parishioners the difference between needs and wants.

"In all my years, I've never been in a time like this," said Endsley. "Seemingly everything you try out in the world doesn't work but, if you lean on Christ, he'll supply what you need for today."

Simple talk can solve problems, said McNeal. And local churches need to step in to prevent isolation among members by organizing support groups.

"If someone needs help, this isn't a time to be stubborn," he said.

"People sit around and talk about what's going on," said the counselor. "All of a sudden, they don't feel so all alone."
McNeal is also a proponent of volunteer work.

"By volunteering, our anxiety or worrying diminishes. It helps to be community minded."

And what could we discover about ourselves in a recession? asked McNeal.

The good news - we're all in the same boat; and the bad news, there really isn't any test results since no one's been here before.

COPING MECHANISMS

• Count your blessings

• Talk it out

• Volunteer

Bill Rettew Jr. may be contacted at 386-5857 or wrettew@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT