Debt and Depression:

How FIRE can be a cure for the mental health crisis in the United States

The first step on the FIRE pathway, is to admit you have a problem.  When I realized that I had a problem, and that problem amounted to over a half a million dollars of debt, plus interest, it was depressing.  It was depressing in so many ways. I can remember thinking that amount of debt was something that I would potentially never overcome, and if I did, it would take years to decades to complete.  When you realize how much of a burden debt truly is, you either ignore it which causes debt to continue to spiral out of control and make things worse, or you address it.  Either way, it is extremely depressing.  For those who choose to ignore it, many simply mask the depression with things like antidepressants, alcohol, shopping, trips, or multiple other things that defers attention from the debt they have while continuing to compound the problem.  For those like me who choose to address the issue head on, the feeling of hopelessness, knowing it will take years or decades to solve your problem, is overwhelming and depressing.  Exploring the link between debt and depression, is one major catalyst for writing this blog, as I think the link between the two is substantial and needs further research.  Hopefully, this blog can shine a light on a very dark subject and assist in acquiring the research and education necessary to help reduce the epidemic of depression in the United States.  

According to the National Institute of Health, Major Depression is “one of the most common disorders in the United States.” https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml  Even more important, is the fact these numbers are based on individuals diagnosed with the disorder, and do not take into account the many people who go undiagnosed, meaning Major Depression could likely be the most common disorder in the country. Nearly ten percent of the United States population age 12 and older are currently taking antidepressants.  Furthermore, nearly ¼ of all women in their 40s and 50s are taking antidepressants, while there has been a 400% increase in antidepressant use since the early 1990s.  The most common reason for suicide in the United States is depression. The 6 major causes of depression listed by the CDC on their website include genetics, trauma, major life changes, medical problems, medications and substance abuse, but there is no mention of debt. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/depression-anxiety.html These are just a few of the statistics available on antidepressant use and depression, available from websites such as the CDC and Harvard Health Publishing.  Unfortunately, there is very little evidence-based research on the link between debt and depression, but I don’t think it is a coincidence that the average household debt has risen along with rates of depression and antidepressant use.  In fact, when the research is completed, I hypothesize that debt will be shown to be the number one factor in clinical depression in the United States, thus debt reduction and elimination (FIRE) will be the number one treatment to treat clinical depression, not antidepressants and psychotherapy.  This is why the FIRE pathway, specifically the Financial Independence part of that equation, is so important and can be a lifesaving, or at least a life improvement treatment tool in the fight against depression.

Unfortunately, the United States sucks at studying the link between debt and depression.  In fact, the entire world does.  As part of my education, I spent years in college learning how to read, interpret, and determine if a journal article was statistically valid.  After spending weeks looking for a good evidence-based journal article on the link between debt and depression I could only find one article that was relevant, statistically significant, with good methodology.  The only article that was significant is a 2015 article out of the UK called “Does debt affect health? Cross country evidence on the debt-health nexus.”   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953615000854 This article “investigated the relationship between aggregate household debt and aggregate health outcomes across 17 European countries over the period 1995-2012.  After collecting and analyzing the data the article found: “Our results also suggest that both short- and medium-term unsecured debt could improve the life expectancy and contribute to a reduction in premature mortality.  These results can be explained by the fact that greater access to short- and medium-term debt allows households to respond quickly to unexpected financial shocks, and consequently enjoy better health. However, long term unsecured debt and mortgage debt appear to exert a negative effect on health outcomes since this leaves households vulnerable to future income shocks and puts health at risk.  Policy initiatives that bring together healthcare professionals, debt advisers, and debt collection agencies to support financially distressed households may mitigate some of these aforementioned effects.(Clayton et all, 2015)”  So basically, the authors of this study researched half of the countries in Europe from a period of nearly 20 years, and found that long term debt, AKA your mortgage, has a statistically significant negative effect on your health.  They also theorize that collaboration between healthcare workers, and “debt advisors” can reduce some of the negative health effects of debt for these individuals.  In this example, “debt advisors” could easily be interpreted to be all members of the FIRE movement, and all of those who support what it stands for as we understand how financial independence can reduce depression.

In conclusion, through my decade of experience working in healthcare, I am certain debt has a negative effect on your health the only question is to what extent does it affect you. My number one goal listed for this blog was to “Increase the quality of life for all working- class Americans, thus reducing the epidemic of depression.”  Working as a single therapist in a rural Alaska, I have no chance of causing any significant change in how depression and debt are studied, and how depression is treated as a result of those findings.  However, one of my dreams, and my number one goal, for this blog is to gain enough attention at a national level to initiate the research necessary to first prove the correlation between debt and depression, and then treat depression through debt reduction strategies and FIRE, instead of offering a band-aid through pharmaceutical management of depression.  Although the CDC and NIMH don’t even mention debt as a possible cause of depression, I think that debt is the number one cause of depression in the United States, it just hasn’t been identified yet.  Unfortunately, there has been very little actual evidence-based research completed on the link between the two, and nearly no studies completed in the United States. I believe that instead of treating depression with medication and traditional counseling, treatment with debt reduction/elimination strategies such as the FIRE methodology will be the most beneficial treatment strategy to combat the epidemic of depression in our country.  Obviously, there are many other causes of depression besides debt, or even in addition to debt, but the link between debt and depression is obvious.  Circumstances vary, but I know that reducing debt in my household has significantly improved my mental health, and that of my wife, as we know in just a few short years our debt will be totally eliminated, and we will be financially free to enjoy our life, instead of worrying about our next paycheck to cover our mortgage payment when we are in our sixties or seventies.  We can see the “light at the end of the tunnel” so to speak, and we know we will reach it in our late thirties, instead of late sixties.  You only have one life to live, enjoy it and don’t let debt cause depression.  Treat your depression with a dose FIRE.