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And to think, we're still in the early innings.
By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
Signs abound that the battered economy is causing serious damage to the mental health and family lives of a growing number of Americans.
Requests for therapists have soared, Americans say they're stressed out, and domestic-violence and suicide hotlines are reporting increased calls.
"I've never seen this level of anxiety and depression in 22 years of practice," says Nancy Molitor, a psychologist in Wilmette, Ill. "The mental health fallout has been far worse than after 9/11."
There has been a sharp rise in mental trauma even among those who still have jobs: The demand for therapists surged 40% from June to December — driven largely by money-related fears — at ComPsych, which runs the nation's largest employee-assistance mental-health program, says ComPsych chairman and CEO Richard Chaifetz. Nearly half of Americans said they were more stressed than a year ago, and about one-third rated their stress level as "extreme" in surveys out in September from the American Psychological Association. That was before the stock-market dive.
Meanwhile, financial advisers say they're finding themselves in a new abnormal "normal." John Jones, a financial planner at ComPsych, says he's referring many more workers to counselors. "They start crying. They tell me they're not eating or sleeping. One even said about his family, 'They'd be better off without me,' " Jones says. Many colleagues around the USA are having the same experience, he adds.
Joy Browne, a New York psychologist whose WOR-based radio talk show airs in 200 cities and live online, says she hears "a lot of free-floating anxiety." Many callers have been laid off. "But even if they have jobs, they fear they're going to lose them. People are kind of holding their breath."
[..]
"These couples are living in separate rooms, unhappily," says Priscilla Marotta, a psychologist in Plantation, Fla., who increasingly sees this scenario.
Molitor, the suburban Chicago therapist, says she's noticing physically abused spouses staying in marriages because the economy has shrunk their options. "More people are living in homes that are kind of like tinderboxes now — they blow up every once in a while," says Karen Myatt, a divorce lawyer in Fort Lauderdale whose practice is shifting to domestic violence.
Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline have shot up during the recession, says spokeswoman Retha Fielding. For example, there were 21% more calls in September than in September 2007. When the stock market plunged in October, there were 18% more calls than in October 2007.
"And we hear more and more about money. 'We're about to lose the house, my husband lost his job.' " Domestic violence is about power and control, Fielding says, "so if an abuser loses control of one part of his life, he's going to try harder to get control at home."
cont.
By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
Signs abound that the battered economy is causing serious damage to the mental health and family lives of a growing number of Americans.
Requests for therapists have soared, Americans say they're stressed out, and domestic-violence and suicide hotlines are reporting increased calls.
"I've never seen this level of anxiety and depression in 22 years of practice," says Nancy Molitor, a psychologist in Wilmette, Ill. "The mental health fallout has been far worse than after 9/11."
There has been a sharp rise in mental trauma even among those who still have jobs: The demand for therapists surged 40% from June to December — driven largely by money-related fears — at ComPsych, which runs the nation's largest employee-assistance mental-health program, says ComPsych chairman and CEO Richard Chaifetz. Nearly half of Americans said they were more stressed than a year ago, and about one-third rated their stress level as "extreme" in surveys out in September from the American Psychological Association. That was before the stock-market dive.
Meanwhile, financial advisers say they're finding themselves in a new abnormal "normal." John Jones, a financial planner at ComPsych, says he's referring many more workers to counselors. "They start crying. They tell me they're not eating or sleeping. One even said about his family, 'They'd be better off without me,' " Jones says. Many colleagues around the USA are having the same experience, he adds.
Joy Browne, a New York psychologist whose WOR-based radio talk show airs in 200 cities and live online, says she hears "a lot of free-floating anxiety." Many callers have been laid off. "But even if they have jobs, they fear they're going to lose them. People are kind of holding their breath."
[..]
"These couples are living in separate rooms, unhappily," says Priscilla Marotta, a psychologist in Plantation, Fla., who increasingly sees this scenario.
Molitor, the suburban Chicago therapist, says she's noticing physically abused spouses staying in marriages because the economy has shrunk their options. "More people are living in homes that are kind of like tinderboxes now — they blow up every once in a while," says Karen Myatt, a divorce lawyer in Fort Lauderdale whose practice is shifting to domestic violence.
Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline have shot up during the recession, says spokeswoman Retha Fielding. For example, there were 21% more calls in September than in September 2007. When the stock market plunged in October, there were 18% more calls than in October 2007.
"And we hear more and more about money. 'We're about to lose the house, my husband lost his job.' " Domestic violence is about power and control, Fielding says, "so if an abuser loses control of one part of his life, he's going to try harder to get control at home."
cont.
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