The first time I witnessed financial hardships and its impact on mental health I was observing how my parents dealt with their money issues. “It was like the less money we come across, the more problems we see.”

I remember food insecurity, utility shutoffs, tears, and embarrassment. The struggle itself was "hidden"; not even family members knew about our hardships. Looking back on it now, I guess it was a form of protection to prevent judgment and negative energy.

When you are broke, Black and poor everyone has an opinion.

As research suggests, depression, like many other mental illnesses is caused by varying factors including physical, biological and environmental factors. When it comes to money, psychologists agree that personal finance is a contributing factor of depression.” For many of us, we may carry massive anxiety tied to our finances.

As a result, we stress over how we may or may not be able to pay our bills, maximize our income to make ends meet or to eat and sleep with ease. If anyone knows how it feels being broke and stressed, they understand when your pockets are low they feel like the heaviest pockets in the world.

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And to be honest, it’s a conversation many of us have in the back of our minds but don’t know how to bring to the table. Whether it’s because “the struggle” is not something we happily want to address or the perceptions of people regarding what it means to be broke is a sensitive subject. There are many articles telling people why they are broke and blaming individuals for their economic hardships without factoring in the multitude of reasons people experience financial challenges.

They skip over the anxiety people have surrounding money and how their upbringing plays a part in the relationship individuals have with the dollar. When you factor in the systemic challenges, babyyyyyyy we’ll be talking for days about how race and gender play a role in your coins and social mobility.

Now, I feel like my observations of money and mental health have become more apparent within my circle of friends and in life while adulting. Personally, my stress regarding money surrounds my next steps post-grad school and how I hate paying bills. (I said what I said!) No one said the road would be easy but, my goodness, it's a different world from where my parents came from. I'm not ready for these student loans to knock on my door. It already seems every day I'm giving myself a pep talk to continue climbing that ladder of success. Perhaps it takes time.

Nevertheless, I know a number of friends who I spoke with in the past few weeks that in some way, shape or form their mental health has been impacted by the dolla
dolla
dolla bill y’all.

• The person pouring from a half-empty cup, trying to support their family and can’t afford it
• The fresh college graduate struggling to find a good entry level paying job
• The individual battling debt
• The hustler milking three positions to keep their head above water
• That one person who can't seem to catch a break

I'm sure these individuals exist in all our lives because they each have a story and chasing the bag is a topic that is universal no matter where you are from. The thing is sometimes that bag may have a hole, the emptiness may blow you to another dimension, and it may feel like you’re walking with a ton of bricks on your shoulder.

Here, there is room for discussion.

While we highlight the importance of mental illness, we must address how financial hardships can induce depression and provide solutions and resources to assist those through their difficulties.

We must remove the barriers that prevent us to talk comfortably about money and be willing to understand that the struggle is real, but like any struggle, it is possible to make it through.