Emotional Toll of Foreclosure

You may have been the one losing your home at one point, or maybe you are right now. Most of us know or know of someone who is going through foreclosure at this time. Because of the financial spin that the world is in right now many people are finding themselves out of business or out of their jobs. Former CEO's can't get a job anywhere, professionals of all kinds are finding these times tough and the middle and lower class population is suffering as well. No matter what the socioeconomic class you fall into you could likely find yourself in the situation of having to foreclose on your home.

In the first half of this year (2009) 1 in 84 households received at least one foreclosure letter. Countless more are fighting each month just to stay in their homes. There have not been many signs that this rate of foreclosure is going to get any better any time soon.

When there are foreclosures it effects everyone. Naturally the person or family going through it are having feelings of hopelessness and wonder from day to day where they will be in a month. If they foreclose where will they go? Their children even feel the stress wondering if they will continue at their current school and with their current neighborhood friends. This takes a toll on marriages and families across the board.

Then you have the neighbors sitting by and watching what is happening and realizing that this may drastically lower the estimated value of their home. We know that foreclosures in neighborhoods drive the home values down and this causes stress within communities.

With all of these mounting pressures in the world right now it is important to take care of our physical and emotional wellness. Here are a few things you can do for yourself to help keep you healthy in mind, spirit and body:

• Forget blame. Everyone wants to blame themselves. It's great to live and learn but being stuck on blaming yourself for your situation does not stop the foreclosure and it certainly doesn't fix anything. You need to just set the blame aside so that you can move forward.
• Accept the fact that things get to a point where you can't control them or change them. Find this as a huge release instead of something frustrating. All you can control is the moments you have right now, today. Make the best of each of them. If you are married or have children the whole family will benefit from your upbeat attitude.
• Get your business in order. Find all the documents you have on your home. If you know that you are having trouble making your payments contact your lender just as soon as you can. They want to work with you and will generally go to great lengths to accommodate.
• Be honest about yourself about what you can do to really make things okay again. Know the dates you may have to move, have somewhere lined up to go. If you can take the uncertainty out of the situation as much as possible it will help to ease your mind.
• Finally, take care of your health. Don't skip physicals, work outs, medical exams, psychiatric help (if needed). If you have lost your insurance or your medical bills have piled up seek out resources in your community. There are a great number of solutions for people just like you.

Don't be discouraged. We know it's easier said than done right now. Most people will face financial hardships in their lifetime. Don't be worried about what anyone else thinks and just know that as time passes it will get better and you and your family will be okay.

If you are finding it a struggle to make your mortgage payments right now consider listing your home for sale to prevent the foreclosure process altogether. Just speak with a real estate agent to see what options may be available to you.