Defined Terms and Documents       

Extreme Financial And Emotional Distress means Financial Stress which impacts hundreds of thousands of Financially Uneducated And Vulnerable Australians can negatively affect their physical and mental health in several ways, not limited to:

  • Unhealthy Coping Behaviours:  People experiencing Financial Stress can be more likely to numb their anxiety by drinking, smoking, overeating and practicing other unhealthy coping behaviours. This in turn leads to more stress.

  • Less Money For Self-Care:  With less money in the budget, people who are already under financial stress tend to cut corners in areas like health care to pay for basic necessities like food. Small problems can go unchecked and turn into larger problems. This also leads to more stress.

  • Lost Sleep:  When under financial stress, people often experience trouble sleeping, which can add up to a sleep deficit, impairing immune functioning and cognitive abilities, causing additional moodiness, and more.

  • Unhealthy Emotions:  Credit card debt can cause unhealthy emotions that can take a toll on health. People can experience anxiety, frustration and a sense of hopelessness as the debt piles up and increasing amounts of money are needed just to pay the interest. This causes additional stress, which compounds with the stress from poor coping and self-neglect, to become a menacing amount of stress.

McKinsey Report -  May 2014 categorizes 'Five Segments' of Credit Cardholders in the USA.  Below is an extract from the 'Third Segment', namely 'Financially stressed':

"Carry heavy credit card debt—nearly four times the average, at $7,453USD—and consider themselves unable to control their spending or stick to a budget.  Some are chronic spendthrifts; others are mired in circumstances that force them to borrow on credit cards to pay for essentials.  Seldom shop around for better places to put their outstanding balances and doubt they will ever get out from under their burden of debt. Expect financial trouble for themselves and the wider economy. Poorest among the segments, with just a quarter of the financial assets (a mean of $44,000USD) of the average cardholder. Credit plays a crucial role in satisfying this group’s day-to-day needs: keeping a roof over their head, paying for their daily commute, keeping a prescription filled. This is not a sustainable path, but they are unable to abandon it just yet.  Value simplicity and transparency in fees, rates and terms, but their biggest need is for something that no credit card offers: a mechanism allowing them to impose their own spending limits which would enable them to carry a credit card for larger purchases that take time to pay off, without fearing they might be tempted to use it for non-essentials."

See: 

Australian Governments allocate $43.38 million annually to 44 Australian charities to provide financial counselling to Australians that are experiencing Extreme Financial And Emotional Distress

Credit Card Distress Authorities

Quotes from reputable Credit Card Distress Authorities about unconscionable advertising of Credit Cards by Credit Card Issuers

SMH Middle class hit by debt - Huge mortgage repayments and credit cards bills are taking their toll snapshots the problem that non-conflicted ‘Not-For-Profits’ (Salvation Army's Moneycare service Centacare, Anglicare, Lifeline, Wesley Mission's Credit Line, Smith Family, St Vincent de Paul's Budget and Financial Counselling Service,  Centacare ‘et al’) deal with the damage when families become hopelessly credit cards indebted.

The Wesley Report: Facing Financial Stress - April 2015 and SMH article "The creeping danger of Australian households' love affair with credit".

"When debt is easy to bank up"

AUSTRALIANS owe almost $50 billion on credit cards as spiralling living costs force them to put everyday expenses and even mortgage repayments on plastic.

5 ways credit card debt can be hazardous to your health.

Mental illness and Debt - The Good Shepherd

Financial Literacy or Financial Literacy Skills

Financial Literacy Demographic Quintiles

Financial Literacy and Credit Cards: A Multi Campus Survey

Financially Educated or Financially Literate

Financially Uneducated And Vulnerable Australians

Financial Stress