This week, the Dow Jones and Standard&Poor's 500 Indexes had their worst week of declines in history. The global credit crisis has dramatically increased people’s anxiety about the economy, jobs, and personal wealth around the world.

From a health perspective, more and more people are losing sleep and suffering emotional distress. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the global economic downturn could lead to a rise in mental health problems. This week, the WHO launched the annual World Mental Health Day, which is intended to increase funding and services for the mentally ill.

In these challenging economic times, it is natural that people will become anxious and emotionally distressed. However, it is important that people do not feel that they need to handle this stress by themselves. Rather, they should seek help from trusted friends and family or a mental health professional before the stress becomes too overwhelming.

Do you have suggestions for how to deal with the stress associated with the current economic crisis? If so, please share them with the members of Healia Communities.

_{Photo: Preciouskhyatt, Flickr, Creative Commons}