When you go to bed with your mortgage, bills and credit card payments on your mind, it’s no wonder you wake up to eye bags. New research is warning that your debt and financial stress is aging you, literally taking a toll on your appearance.
Scientists out of Brandeis University, Massachusetts, say that people dealing with the “highest levels” of financial stress look like they’ve aged more over a decade than people with few money problems.
“It may be that people who are under a lot of financial stress do not pay much attention to their appearance. Stress can also accelerate the aging process,” the study’s co-researcher, Dr. Margie Lachman, said in a university statement.
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Lachman partnered with colleagues in Belgium and New England for their study. In it, more than 200 people rated their financial stress. They also had their headshots taken in 1994 and again in 2004.
Nineteen people were tasked with reviewing the photos to estimate how old the study participants looked in their headshots.
Across the board, the people reviewing the photos guessed that those who were financially struggling looked older than they were. They also looked older than their peers who weren’t grappling with stress from money.
Lachman studies how stress, in general, affects the aging process. She warned that financial stress takes a larger toll on appearance than other types of stress.
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If you look older than you are, you tend to change your lifestyle and behaviour in negative ways, too, Lachman warned.
Financial stress is a major concern to Canadians, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in May.
Right now, 73 per cent of Canadians are currently in debt and those who are 35 to 54 have “higher levels” of debt to pay off.
Twenty-three per cent of Canadians say they’ll never be debt-free. They’re concerned about not being able to pay their bills and rising interest rates; some even say they need to seek out professional help.
Read Lachman’s full findings published in the journal Research on Aging.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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