THE MVET WAY CEMN NEWSLETTER_APR_MAY_JUNE_2017

Two major taboo topics in our communities are mental health and personal finances. When it comes to these topics most people rather put their heads in the sand rather and deal with them straight on. When addressing personal finances, many people are over- whelmed by the amount of infor- mation available to supposedly help them manage their monies better. Unfortunately, many peo- ple fail realize is financial literacy and financial education are not taught by the main stream educa- tion systems and what they en- dorse as financial literacy is finan- cial practices yet not true literacy to understand the systems that drive the financial and economic environments of this country let alone globally. According to the most recent studies conducted, over 95% of the world wealth is controlled by approximately less than 5% of the people. If the gen- eral population had access to try financial literacy and education, Wouldn’t more that 5% control so much of the world’s wealth? One of the main components to achieve true fnancial literacy is mental capacity. Literacy is defined as having the ability to acquire competency in certain subject areas. Financial literacy is to have competency in the subject of finances personal, corporate or municipal. If there was a true competency in financial matters the world’s wealth would be more equitably distributed. Our governments cannot even serve as an adequate model for

financial decision making.

Financial literacy is capable of being achieved when open to changing the way we mentally process and deal with change. Mental capacity is component to achieve literacy of any type. De- clining mental health is a very rel- evant issue in our communities. The fact that mental illness cannot be seen physically makes it more challenging for people to accept, recognize and address. Mental illness impacts everyday lives, de- cisions, emotions and actions. With mental disorders, many chose to ignore or not solicit help. Mental illness is an illness that needs to addressed by medical practitioners. Many cultures dis- courage medical assistance with mental health issues. The prob- lem is when these issues are not addressed they can manifest into serious problems for not only the individual but for their families and communities. The reason financial issues and mental health issues must be ex- amined both individually and combined is because they can be components of each other. Most people make financial decisions based upon thoughts or emotions. If either of those items are flawed by disorders and illness, financial decisions can have dire conse- quences. Emotional spending, irresponsible retail therapy and drastic overspending can be re- sults of both mental and emotion- al disorders.

Mental Health Impacts Your Finan- cial Literacy

By Bridgett McBride

We will continue to investigate