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Introduction: financial uncertainty and its far-reaching consequences

Money is not only a way to pay bills-it shapes our whole life. Financial security brings stability, while money problems can become a heavy burden. The situation is especially serious when financial worries turn into psychological strain and even raise the risk of depression or suicide.

In Switzerland, many people rely on state support. Supplementary benefits (EL) to Old-Age and Survivors’ Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) help those whose income is not enough to cover basic living costs. Even with this support, many still experience financial shortfalls and fear for their livelihood. Rising living costs, rent, and health spending add to the pressure.

Roughly 1,000 people in Switzerland die by suicide each year, and financial worries are among the most common underlying factors. The psychological impact of debt and economic insecurity is severe. Fear for one’s existence can lead to social withdrawal, hopelessness, and a sense of being trapped. Men are especially at risk, because social norms often make it harder to talk openly about money problems.

A decisive way to break this cycle is financial education. Learning about budgeting, debt management, and long-term planning can reduce uncertainty and help prevent crises. Programmes such as Money Mastery from the Mastery Association offer practical guidance to help people become more financially independent.

This article explores the links between financial insecurity and mental health, outlines the current situation in Switzerland, and shows how financial literacy can, over time, ease money-related stress and improve quality of life.

Supplementary benefits: a vital lifeline-but are they enough?

In Switzerland, people whose income does not cover basic living costs can apply for supplementary benefits (EL) to OASI and DI. For many, these benefits are essential-without them, a dignified life would hardly be possible.

Figures on supplementary benefits

• CHF 5.7 billion was spent on EL in 2023-an increase of 4% compared with the previous year.
• Around 350,000 people in Switzerland receive supplementary benefits under OASI and DI.
• 12.3% of OASI pensioners and 50.1% of DI pensioners depend on this support.
• Benefits for people in care homes are especially costly: on average about CHF 3,700 per month.

However valuable this support is, it is often not enough. Rents rise, food and energy cost more, and many people still struggle to cover fixed costs-even with EL. The result is constant financial tension, anxiety, and not knowing what comes next. For people who worked for years or cannot work due to illness or disability, it is demoralising when money still falls short at the end of the month.

Source: Swiss Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO), press release dated 22 February 2024: “Increase in supplementary benefits 2023”

Suicide as a consequence of money problems-a harsh reality

Every year, roughly 1,000 people in Switzerland die by suicide, and about 10,000 suicide attempts receive medical care. Behind every number there is a person, a fate, and a story.

The decision to end one’s life is rarely impulsive. It is often preceded by prolonged strain-and one of the heaviest burdens a person can face is severe financial hardship.

Why money trouble hits mental health so hard

• Existential fear: not knowing whether money will last the month can dominate daily life.
• Social isolation: those who cannot afford restaurants, holidays, or a night out often withdraw from their circles.
• Sense of being trapped: debts accumulate, bills stay unpaid-and eventually hope can feel out of reach.

Men trained not to speak about hardship are particularly at risk-not talking about financial stress is a serious mistake. No one should have to cope with money worries alone.

Source: Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), report “Suicide prevention: Action plan 2016” (pp. 14–17)

How financial education can save lives

There is hope: financial education. Knowledge is power-and people who understand their finances can act sooner, before despair sets in. The Mastery Association’s Money Mastery event provides hands-on workshops to help participants take charge of money and build long-term security.

What you explore at Money Mastery:

• How do I build a realistic budget? A clear financial plan reduces stress and creates certainty.
• How do I pay down debt systematically? Debt feels overwhelming-with a strategy it becomes manageable.
• How do I save and invest for the long term? Managing money wisely early lays the groundwork for a safer future.

Many participants say Money Mastery was the first time they truly understood their finances-and that clarity is a first step toward independence.

Conclusion: knowledge is the best shield against financial insecurity

Money is not everything-but it shapes how we live, how safe we feel, and how much freedom we have. Financial education is the best protection against helplessness, fear, and stress.

Engaging with personal finances openly can transform life over time. Through Money Mastery, the Mastery Association helps people take ownership of their financial futures. Money should not cost us sleepless nights; it should help us live self-determined lives.

Learn more: Money Mastery

Your life moves along-and then a single moment turns everything upside down.

The sudden death of someone you love, an unexpected separation, or another tragic event can change your life in ways you never imagined. A moment when it feels like the ground is pulled from beneath your feet-when nothing is the same as before, and carrying this loss asks more of you than you expected.

Losing someone dear is perhaps one of the hardest trials we face. Perhaps you lost a parent, a partner, a child, or a close friend-and nothing feels right anymore. Grief can be overwhelming; often it is unclear how to hold it. People around you try to help, yet the words are missing. You feel isolated, as if no one understands how deep the pain reaches. Some days simply getting up and continuing is heroic. Then the world can feel as if it spins on-while you stand frozen in time.

A separation or divorce cuts deep too. It is more than losing a partnership; it can mean losing a shared blueprint for life. Suddenly little matches what was planned-the future you imagined together no longer exists, and you need to find your footing again. Guilt, grief, and anger often stay close. With children involved, the strain is sharper: staying “strong” for them while battling inside feels enormous.

Such blows strain us emotionally and mentally in ways we may never have known. There is no single map for grief after loss or crisis. Many feel helpless and overwhelmed because nobody really rehearses these moments with us beforehand.

In deep grief or despair we often whisper, Why me? It can seem as though nothing will ever be the same again.

Your surroundings shift after a major loss. Friends and relatives who meant to console you gradually step back-they do not know how to help further. Usually it is not ill will; people simply freeze when sorrow is raw. You can end up terribly alone with your pain while everyday life elsewhere looks normal, and you are still gathering the pieces.

Coping asks for immense emotional stamina-and that does not mean you must always appear strong. Strength is often admitting it is alright to feel fragile: to cry, to mourn, and to take all the time you need to heal.

There is no single right path through loss or crisis. Everyone grieves differently; everyone discovers their pace of standing up again. Sometimes the smallest steps matter most-the first morning you wake without tears, the first laugh after a long silence. Quiet as they seem, those moments hint that despite pain a future remains, even when it looks different than you dreamed.

In such seasons remember you are not alone. Reaching out to friends, a peer-support group, or professional help can be decisive-sometimes distance helps someone sort emotion and glimpse a route through the dark.

Asking for help is not shameful-it shows courage to face your reality as it truly is.

Life-altering shocks will keep testing us-they do not define who you become. What matters is the road you travel to find yourself again and gather strength to carry on: at your own pace, in your own way-and knowing that setbacks of this kind belong to human experience yet never write the whole story of your life alone.

Have you ever felt that no matter how hard you try, it is somehow never enough?

Perhaps you know the inner voice that insists you must do more-better, faster, always more successful. In societies that treat accomplishment and flawless performance as the measure of self-worth, pressure to perform is everywhere: school, university, work, everyday life-all suffused with the idea that we should constantly achieve something more.

The workplace illustrates it vividly. Coworkers who look endlessly productive pull extra hours and keep adding projects-and then you notice yourself answering backlog mail late into the night or patching up work across the weekend. A wish for success subtly hardens into a compulsion running your days. That tempo cannot nourish well-being for long.

The squeeze is not confined to jobs. Exams and graded courses often demand peak performance-“passing” is rarely enough-while social media pours fuel on the fire. Highlights scroll past: shiny job titles, top grades, effortless-looking startups. Comparing endlessly to curated wins leaves you drained and convinced your output barely counts.

Comparing sparks a spiral-the more we chase someone else’s story, the louder the strain becomes. Extra tasks pile on, side projects mushroom, midnight oil burns to keep pace-and eventually exhaustion floods in, body and mind. Hunger to be perfect consumes energy nobody has endlessly.

This pressure brings serious fallout. Stress becomes a roommate; overwhelm and burnout lurk close behind. Picture weeks driving a major deliverable, meeting every expectation-then the finish line feels hollow, nothing but fatigue. Strain compounds every time you stretch to meet bar after rising bar.

Performance pressure does not stop at the office door. Private life can feel like another arena where you must ace it all-“together” partnership, immaculate home, always organised, relentlessly fit. That fantasy of flawless living allows little room for error or tenderness toward yourself when you stumble.

Social feeds magnify anxiety: others float through success stories while your week feels uphill. Remember what you usually see online are reels of highlights-doubts, setbacks, insomnia rarely make the carousel. Still the takeaway is the same frantic lesson: sprint faster so you never fall behind in the race.

The loop tightens-the more demands you swallow, the heavier the invisible pack; the heavier it grows, the likelier collapse grows too. Plenty of people land in a depleted place affecting both body and spirit.

Burnout is not rare here-a state where everything feels emptied out and barely anything still works smoothly.

If this sounds familiar, pause and unpack the pressure-does it originate from bosses, culture, timelines, or your own relentless standards? Try asking plainly: Who am I doing this for-and what do I actually gain? Success should not be measured only by output. How you feel while living toward your goals matters just as much; well-being deserves the front seat.

Setting boundaries is essential-whether at work or in personal life-and protecting them counts as competence, not selfishness.

You never needed to impersonate perfection on loop. Pause, admit limits, soften toward imperfection-the human part of you. No one peaks constantly; often hindsight shows the striving mattered far less than the journey you walked with gentler pacing.

Performance pressure stays woven into contemporary life-that does not doom you to one narrow script. Your path can be shaped by noticing what genuinely matters beyond endless comparison and unrealistic finish lines-with room to breathe rather than endlessly chase applause.

Performance pressure