Mental health and debt management: Strategies for coping, avoiding bankruptcy: Part 2

The first part of this two-part Advantage CCS series on mental health and debt management explored the link between credit, debt, and mental health. If you are a depression or bipolar disorder sufferer, and are in need of debt management, housing counseling, or bankruptcy counseling, we applaud you for your courage to admit to your need for help. We believe that the restoration of your daily functioning and your positive mood are imperative to sound credit and debt management.

First, understand that your illness isn't your fault. You did not cause it, and you did not do anything to bring it upon yourself. It might cheer you to know that WebMD, and many other health information resource and management affiliates pinpoint biological, situational, environmental, and psychological origins of mental illness. Therefore, before you jump-start a debt management plan or get yourself enrolled in housing counseling or bankruptcy counseling, it is important that you get some “YOU” therapy. While money might be one factor in your mental illness, it is not the sole cause, and having more of it is not the sole solution.

You might be struggling with your finances to such a degree that you might not be able to afford counseling or medication. You might lack health insurance, or you might not be able to take time off of work or household duties to seek help. If any of these situations are true for you, there are resources to which you can turn for help. For example, there exist specialized low-income counseling facilities in each city in America; many charge for services rendered based on income sliding scales. Lutheran Family Services in Cleveland, Ohio; Lighthouse Christian Services in Columbus Ohio, and the Squirrel Hill Health Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are three examples of centers that offer mental health treatment for low-income or uninsured individuals.

Credit counseling, housing counseling, debt management, and you

The next step you must take for effective debt management during a period of mental illness is to enroll in financial counseling. You might wish to begin with a simple online credit counseling session. Advantage CCS offers such counseling sessions -- and we encourage you to enroll in a free online credit counseling session, whether you live in Brooklyn or Queens, NY, Cleveland or Columbus, OH, or Pittsburgh, PA. Your Advantage CCS credit counselor will review your budget and credit card information, and make recommendations to you based upon that information.

Other types of financial counseling can help you, as well. If you are thinking about buying a house, you should enroll in housing counseling; meanwhile, if you are having trouble paying for already-existing housing, reverse-mortgage counseling might be your best bet. Perhaps you are in need of a general debt management plan to coincide with your mental health treatment. You might be a good candidate for a debt management program if you find that you aren't sure how to budget your monthly income against expenses, or if you are having difficulty making credit card, bill or loan payments on time.

If you are navigating the stormy waters of mental illness, you might find that your financial situation is so grim that you are considering filing for bankruptcy. Advantage CCS advises you that this should always be a last resort. Bankruptcy laws actually require that you enroll in bankruptcy counseling and demonstrate completion before filing. Advantage CCS offers bankruptcy counseling and bankruptcy classes that are approved as suitable for fulfilling pre-bankruptcy requirements for residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, among other states.

Don't despair if you have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are struggling with debt management such as credit card or housing debt. Take care of yourself first with counseling services and medication; then turn to Advantage CCS for debt, housing, and bankruptcy help and advice