Debt is deadly. There is a straight-line connection between debt and health: the stress of too much debt erodes physical health.
The single largest source of stress in the US, at least before COVID-19, is money. Or lack of money.
Other potent sources of stress include work, the economy, family and relationships. As a bankrutpcy lawyer, I can’t offer a remedy for these stressors.
But I do have a cure for debt troubles.
The debt plan that scares me
Of all the chilling things my clients say to me, the pronouncement that they will just continue to juggle their money worries rather than file bankruptcy is the worst.
Scared of taking steps to get rid of debt, they consign themselves to worry, sleepless nights, and constant tension over their money problems.
What they don’t understand is that serious debt is not just a financial problem, it’s a health problem.
Stress kills
Stress is debilitating, at best, and lethal, at worst.
When stress doesn’t kill outright, it increases the risk of heart attack, high blood pressure, depression, infertility, and premature aging.
It interferes with family life.
Stress makes you stupid. Really!
Stress isn’t just an emotion that you can endure with fortitude and strength of character. It has physical consequences.
To choose to enduring constant money stress is to make a potentially disastrous health choice.
Yet I encounter far too many people who underrate the physical cost of remaining in debt.
Whether they fear the future, damage to their self image, or anxiety about public exposure, they shoulder the continuing stress rather than consider bankruptcy.
Emotional barriers to a fresh start
Bankruptcy is a remedy
Available without a prescription or a doctor visit, bankruptcy provides relief from the stress of overwhelming debt. It doesn’t require diet, exercise, or pills.
And yet it works quickly and reliably.
It’s sanctioned in the Bible and in the US Constitution.
It’s invoked by big corporations, big cities, and big name celebrities.
It works for individuals and families.
Eliminate debt as source of stress
Make the right health choice: consider whether bankruptcy would take avoidable stress out of your life.
What’s so scary about bankruptcy
How to interview a bankruptcy lawyer
Images courtesy of Marsmett Tallahassee and Wikimedia: Gdudycha
