What Has Anxiety Cost You?
Sure we’ve all spent time ruminating over the things we’re missing out on, the ever-growing list of things we’re no longer able to do because anxiety says we can’t, but did you ever stop to work out the actual cost?
By that I mean the cost in dollars or pounds – all that therapy, the books you’ve read, trips you paid for and didn’t go on, food you bought and didn’t have the appetite to eat, time off work, etc. If you don’t have health insurance you may even have huge medical bills.
In addition to this there are many more things you can’t put a price on – missed time with family or your kids, not spending time with friends, watching life pass you by. The suffering, the torment, the depression. Hard to put a value on any of that.
Getting Our Priorities Right
Most of us are fairly happy to foot a repair bill when the car needs some work done, because we need it to get around. But how many of us spend money looking after us? Surely we need that more than anything?
Well, I sat down one day and worked it out. Including all the therapy I had, the books I bought, and some of the lost income, I stopped counting when I got to around £20,000. I’ve always been self-employed so time of is money lost. For therapy I paid anything from £45 to £400 per hour, I even worked with one of the UK’s most famous hypnotists, I spared no expense. In the end it pretty much bankrupted me.
This doesn’t include what I spent on certification and accreditation as a therapist as that was my choice.
Like all chronic illness, the financial cost is considerable in almost all cases, but the true cost in terms of what we lose and miss out on is staggering.
So, how much is your recovery worth to you?