Stress of Being Poor Takes Its Toll

A recent article in Psychology Today cites the dangers of an overactive lifestyle and the stress created in trying to have it all. This study supports earlier research about men and women who fall into the Type-A personality: hyper overachievers, prone to suffering heart attacks. The sweat of having to rush to meetings, conferences and lunches (even those of one-hour duration) can kill.

But what of the stress brought on by being poor? Of having to take three buses to a job that at best pays minimum wage? Of having to wake up children while it’s still dark, rush them through a skimpy breakfast, dump them off at school, then hit the freeway in a beat-up car with balding tires that shakes when it hits 50?

Poor folks experience stress of a different type from those more affluent. Working mothers, in particular single parents of young children, must fight for quality time--that left over from commuting, cooking dinner, doing the next day’s laundry--to stay in touch with their kids. For them there is no nanny or Maria to greet their offspring and provide a hot snack.

And what kind of positive energy is generated by living six to a room? Of having to sleep in shifts so that everyone--working adults at least--gets a crack at some rest? How comforting is it to see one’s children spread out on the floor or curled three to a bed, because that is all a parent can afford?

Not having enough money to meet the rent is terribly stressful. And, for those of us (writers included) living on the margins, the mental pressure generated by a lack of funds is a constant. Who to pay? What bills can wait? Will the truck hold up another week?

Having to feed children on a limited budget is nerve-racking. Few folks living at the poverty level eat the foods depicted on nutrition charts: dairy, grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, fish and fowl. We know the indigent eat far too many starches: beans, tortillas, sopita de arroz. Not everyone can afford fresh fish or lean cuts of beef, but must rely on foods that stretch a lean budget.

Being sick creates unhealthy stress for most of us. But for folks without insurance or money for medicine, any illness--be it the flu or common cold--creates additional anxiety, especially if it means missing work or school. Many of my students at Mission College, more concerned with passing grades than passing germs, attend class when visibly sick, then trudge off to night jobs that help pay tuition and keep them solvent.

Impoverished women do not have the luxury of a yearly Pap test or mammogram. Few can afford a physical; few get their teeth checked every six months. Most feel lucky just to keep it together. Worse, the price of medication can increase one’s level of anxiety. Often people opt to self-medicate with over-the-counter drugs which, rather than help, may hinder the healing process.

In an unequal world, for those at the bottom of the economic ladder--immigrants, minorities, single parents, working mothers, the elderly--who lack the basic amenities that can ensure some degree of mental health, the stress to keep trucking can be their undoing.