by Chad Graham - Aug. 3, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Plenty of Americans have faced far scarier economic times than these and came out just fine.
As a child during the Great Depression, "we existed on what we could grow in our garden and the kindness of a grocer who extended credit for the meager food we couldn't grow for ourselves," said Lee Mahrer of Gilbert.
"When our shoes wore out to the point of having a large hole in the sole, we cut out cardboard to fit and bridged the gap."
That's the first lesson in how to cope with the current turbulence: Get perspective.
That can be difficult because the problems hit on such a primal level.
"When you think of Maslow's Hier- archy of Needs, it's food, clothing and shelter," said Kathleen Hall, founder and CEO of the Stress Institute in Atlanta.
"During this housing crisis and gas prices going up, (it) affects our food, clothing and shelter."
When people feel out of control, they can feel stress, which can manifest itself physically (one example is headaches) or mentally (one example is anger).
Some may need professional help.
ComPsych, the largest employee-assistance mental-health program in the U.S., said client requests for therapists jump by up to 20 percent during the past three months because of the financial situation, USA Today reported.
For others, financial problems have been too overwhelming.
A Massachusetts woman who was facing a foreclosure fatally shot herself this summer.
She faxed a suicide note to her mortgage company.
Legal and financial problems are thought to be reasons why Scott Coles, chairman of Phoenix-based Mortgages Ltd., committed suicide in June.
In addition to getting professional help, there are other ways to find balance.
19 expert tips to keep a steady course
Stop beating up on yourself. Feelings of shame and guilt are prevalent in bad economic times. Consumers chide themselves for buying that new car instead of saving money.
"I want people to realize . . . we're all in this together, it's affecting every one of us," said Kathleen Hall, founder and CEO of the Stress Institute in Atlanta.
Don't compare your situation with that of your neighbors or friends, either. Behind the façade, you really don't know what stress they're facing.
Be honest with your children. They're plugged in and have heard just as much about the economic gloom and doom as you have.
Some kids might internalize the problem and think they're to blame for their parents' shaky finances.
Hold a 10-minute family meeting once a week to talk honestly about the situation.
This could be a good time to starting teaching children about the importance of a budget. Have them suggest ways to save money on the grocery bill, for example.
Send them the message that "we as a family are going to be very creative, very cool and we want everybody's input if we're on the same team," Hall said.
Let go of what you can't control. Most of us don't sit on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or in the U.S. Congress.
We have no influence over the rise of the middle class in India or China and their insatiable demand for gasoline.
There is no sense at staying angry over what has already happened in terms of gas prices and inflation.
Recognize what you can control. Vote this fall. Volunteer for the presidential candidate of your choice or for a political organization. Make a political contribution.
Call or send an e-mail to your U.S. senator, congressman, mayor, city council member and newspaper. Go ballistic on a blog of your choice.
Let the world know you're angry. Let everyone know how you'd fix the economy.
You'll feel better after venting.
Do a mini-meditation. The Stress Institute suggests taking a three-minute break, closing your eyes or focusing on one spot and taking several deep breaths and repeating a one- to five-word affirmation. This can be as simple as saying, "Keep letting go."
Laugh. It is linked to having healthy blood vessels, a 2005 University of Maryland School of Medicine study determined. "Laughter appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow," researchers determined.
And now, for a laugh . . . Late Show with David Letterman's Top Ten Organized Crime Money-Savings Tips:
10. When taking a body out to Jersey, use mass transit.
9. Every time you kill a guy, put a nickel in a jar.
8. Tap into nearly endless supply of (FILL IN THE BLANK) hit men. (We can't repeat this. You can find the list by searching at lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/).
7. Make threatening phone calls after 11 p.m., when rates are lowest.
6. When you whack two or three guys, stuff them in same trunk and carpool it.
5. Inexpensive pinkie ring substitute: Plastic tab-pull from half gallon of orange juice.
4. Fire pricey nickname consultants - everyone is either "Fat Tony" or "Knuckles."
3. Pasta is very inexpensive and very filling.
2. Forget expensive car bombs - just sneak up behind the guy and yell, "Ker-pow!"
1. Limit yourself to ten "fugeddaboudits" a day.
Bubble gum might reduce stress. A 2006 study by research unit of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. showed that chewing gum calms some people and may increase blood flow to the brain by 25 to 40 percent.
Take a mental-health day from work and watch the movie 'WALL-E.' The Disney-Pixar flick reminds us of the importance and endurance of love.
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through a downturn. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is plummeting, and Americans are loosing jobs and homes.
It seems like a perfectly good time to drink a bottle of wine, scarf down fast food and top it all off with a pint of ice cream.
It's not comfort food when you hate your bloated self in the morning.
Instead, concentrate on remaining competitive in the next five years.
Do you need a new career? Sales representatives, software developers, nurses and accountants are somewhat buffered in this downturn.
Endorphins are your best friend. These hormones are thought to make you feel pleasure and well-being. Researchers believe they can be activated by exercise, eating chocolate and having sex.
Eat a balanced breakfast. You will be less moody, and it has been shown to increase metabolism.
Drink water. Dehydration makes some people feel tired and weak.
Try all-you-can-eat baseball seats. The Arizona Diamondbacks still have home run porch seats available, which include all-you-can eat ballpark goodies from hot dogs to ice cream to soft drinks.
It's going to cost you.
Each seat is $75 and must be purchased in a pack of four and for the remainder of the season. With 29 home games left in August and September, that's $8,700 or $2,175 per person.
A parking pass is included for each set of four seats. Alcoholic beverages are additional.
Be grateful. It never hurts to take a couple of minutes and jot down a list of what you're grateful to have in your life.
Help someone in a worse situation then yourself. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities across metropolitan Phoenix, which don't require an overwhelming amount of time.
A few options range from helping sick children to helping maintain parks, to performing maintenance at a homeless shelter to giving comfort to patients in hospice.
When you understand how others handle far scarier situations with grace and dignity, you instantly will realize how lucky you are.
Save money. Don't have enough savings in case of a layoff?
Here's an easy way to start socking money away. Tally how much per day you spend on eating out, coffee drinks, vending-machine items, cigarettes and other extras. Let's say it comes to $10.
Can you cut out a few items and save $5 per day?
That's $3,650 over 2 years and more than $9,000 over 5 years.
If you were to invest that money, the interest would increase those amounts even more.
Really, those cigarettes can go. We're not going to get into all the heath problems caused by cancer sticks. You may feel relaxed by puffing away, but imagine the future medical bills if you get sick.
Save money, part three. Want cheaper auto insurance? Try insweb.com.
What doesn't kill you will make you stronger.
We found this quote attributed to author Napoleon Hill:
"The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open, where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun."
Or, you can learn from Terry Berrettine.
The 91-year-old Sun City West resident was a teen during the Great Depression. He remembered when the banks closed and no one could access their money.
"There was just a gloom that fell over the country," he said.
But the depression didn't last forever. Berrettine became a successful entrepreneur and retired to Arizona at age 51.
Downturns and recessions "all end and the market comes back," he said.
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