Don’t Over-Tax Yourself Over Tax Season!

With the April 15 tax deadline looming, it’s an anxious time
for many people. Try these tips to keep your financial stress under
control at tax time ­— and all year round.

Break It Up. A mountain of paperwork for your tax
return or for any other financial responsibility, like applying for a college
loan or mortgage, can seem overwhelming. Break up the process into smaller
chunks, such as gathering pay stubs, finding your home mortgage interest
statements, or organizing your receipts. Then tackle each task one by one. But
before you do so…

Make a Plan. This is even more important when you’re
on a tight deadline (like being just a few days away from April 15). Once
you’ve broken down what you need to accomplish into pieces, put those steps in
order and write down how and when you’re going to make each one happen. This
will help you feel like you have control over the process. Being out of control
is very stressful!

Keep Mentally Fit. Eat well, get a full night’s
sleep, find a way to exercise every day, and connect with friends and loved
ones. Financial deadlines may have you feeling like you need to lock yourself
away and pull an all-nighter with a bag of potato chips and your 1040, but
you’ll just raise your stress level, and you probably won’t accomplish your
goal anyway.

Resist Unhealthy Temptations. When stress arises,
it’s tempting to cope in unhealthy ways such as binge eating, smoking, or drinking
alcohol. Avoid these negative coping strategies. Instead of a cigarette or a
glass of wine, take a walk or call a friend to vent.

Don’t Go It Alone. It’s not too late to get help. Ask
for help from a spouse, a trusted friend, or ideally, a financial professional
like a certified public accountant. Some tax professionals will even save you
the step of visiting their office and will review your documents and
calculations online. Having too much on your shoulders and no help is a recipe
for anxiety.

Request an Extension. If you’re utterly overwhelmed
and you feel like there’s no way you’ll have it all together by April 15, talk
to a tax professional about how to request an extension on filing. You’ll still
have to pay your estimated taxes on time (or pay interest), but you’ll have an
extra six months to get your paperwork in order.

Plan Ahead for Next Year. If you’ve procrastinated
about your taxes this year, use the stress you’re experiencing now as you try
to get everything together at the last minute for a good cause: Keeping you on
track to plan ahead for tax time 2016. Set a realistic budget and stick to it,
and keep track of your finances as you go along. Having a plan and living
within your means makes your life much less stressful.

by David Ginsberg,
M.D., clinical associate professor and vice chair for clinical affairs,
Department of Psychiatry, and chief of the Psychiatry Service, NYU Langone
Medical Center in New York City.

Are Some Jobs More Stressful Than Others?

Everyone has bad days on the job—a project that you put hours into bombs or a task you need to accomplish is difficult and stressful. But are some jobs harder overall on our mental health than others? Depression may be more likely to occur in some professions, research suggests. And according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, suicides in the workplace, while not commonplace, are on the rise. Their research, published in the March 16 online edition of the “American Journal of Preventive Medicine,” showed that 270 people committed suicide in the workplace in 2013, a 12% increase over 2012.




Men and those over 65 were more likely to commit suicide in the workplace than others. Law enforcement jobs -- police officers, firefighters, and detectives -- had the highest rate of workplace suicides with 5.3 suicides for every 1 million workers. Farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and forestry workers came in next with 5.1 suicides per one million. The authors also noted that minorities may be at a greater risk for workplace suicide compared to non-workplace suicides. Their research did not include military jobs.




This month’s “JAMA Psychiatry” also addressed the topic in a “Viewpoints” op-ed co-authored by two medical interns from New York who said that being a physician, especially a young intern, may leave some people vulnerable to mental illness and suicide. Doctors are twice as likely to kill themselves compared to non-physicians, and female doctors are three times more likely to do so than their male counterparts, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). According to AFSP, though, the workplace can be an ideal place for suicide prevention programs. Their Interactive Screening Program (ISP), for example, is an anonymous online survey that IDs at-risk people and connects them with support. The NFL and the Boston Police Department have used the program. The authors of the “Lancet Psychiatry” op-ed say some work programs, like one at the U.S. Air Force, have successfully addressed workplace depression and mental illness in a variety of ways. One initiative: The USAF designates certain supervisors as mental health “gatekeepers.” Their job is to identify at-risk employees and channel them to screening and mental health services.



Want more info on managing workplace stress? Read about APA’s Partnership for Workplace Mental Health. Learn more about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s ISP program by contacting the Program Director at isp@afsp.org. Read Mayo Clinic’s article: Work-Life Balance: Tips to Reclaim Control.



by Mary Brophy Marcus, health writer, APA



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