Extreme Economy Brings High Stress
Six people were found shot to death Monday in an upscale Los Angeles suburb. The suspect? The father, a laid-off accountant who killed his family, then turned the gun on himself. He left a note explaining why.
"The suspect alluded to having extreme financial difficulties," said Los Angeles deputy police chief Michael Moore.
And while his reaction was extreme, the round-the-clock barrage of bad news is like a jackhammer pounding away at everyone's sense of financial security, CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports.
"All you are hearing around you is 'catastrophe,' 'crisis,' 'meltdown,'" said psychiatrist Dr. Richard Peterson.
He's also a hedge fund manager who's been tracking the fear level among investors.
"This is the highest we've been in the 26 years we've kept track," Peterson said.
He says fear and stress often trap people in the past.
"One reason people are having such strong emotional reactions now is that they are comparing where they are now to where they were, say, a year ago, two ago," he said.
So what is there to do?
Experts say:
Maggie Hollinbeck, a therapist herself, is seeking help from a financial planner.
After decades of prosperity, she was blindsided by the financial meltdown.
"Things were good and things were getting better all the time, and I almost didn't see this coming - I think I really didn't see this coming!" she said.
But now it's here, for so many Americans. And while it may be true that "this too shall pass," it doesn't appear to be in too much of a hurry.