Breaking the silence on mental health and wellbeing

The relationship between happiness and financial wellbeing is self-evident. What is becoming increasingly understood is the enormous impact of financial insecurity. It weighs us down in profound ways, diminishing not just our happiness, but our mental health and wellbeing—and our productivity. 

Credit card debt, crushing interest rates and food inflation are affecting Canadians dramatically. In the National Payroll Institute’s most recent survey of working Canadians, almost 40 per cent reported being financially stressed—one third of whom earn more than $100,000 annually. These workers spend about 30 minutes each day thinking about their financial situation at a cost of more than three weeks’ loss of productivity per year.   

At the heart of this stress is the correlation of financial difficulty and shame. It can take the average person struggling with debt five years to reach out for help. This creates a vicious circle of stress, anxiety, and shame which, in turn, feeds spiralling mental health challenges.  

Information and dialogue are key to breaking this cycle. It’s time to banish the shame surrounding financial difficulty, to encourage people to ask for help early, and provide the information and support they need to weather financial storms. 

Healthy financial habits support both financial and mental wellbeing.  The time to get help with financial challenges is when they begin to appear.