Poverty and the Nervous System

Exploring how financial instability, housing insecurity, limited resources, and chronic

uncertainty can create ongoing physiological stress.

When we think of poverty, the first thing that comes to mind is often income and access

to basic needs. However, it also should be recognized as a physiological, psychological, and

relational experience. Lacking access to basic needs like food, housing, transportation,

healthcare, and other necessities is obviously a problem. However, another layer to consider is

that uncertainty about access to these basic needs created by financial instability poses its own

issue.

The nervous system is the body’s main control and communication network, designed to

protect us. Among its many functions, it helps us respond and adapt to changes within ourselves

and the world around us. When met with stress, different systems throughout the brain and body

collaborate to equip us to respond. This is where we see things like heart rate increase, narrowing

attention, and our energy being redirected toward whatever the stressor is. Ideally, we respond to

the stressor, it passes, and the body has the chance to recover.

But what about when there is no real chance for recovery? What happens when stress

doesn't end? For someone experiencing poverty or financial insecurity, the source of stress may

not have a clear beginning and end. Not knowing “ Will I have the money for rent this month?

What if my car breaks down? Can I afford groceries? What will I eat? How am I going to pay for

gas?” goes from uncertainty to a real biological threat. Staying in this activated state of “Am I

safe? Do I have what I need?” means that the nervous system is continuously responding to an

environment where essentials for daily functioning may genuinely be at risk.

Over time, repeatedly having to adapt to stress without opportunities for recovery can

take a huge toll on someone. It can lead to hypervigilance to potential problems, anxiety, trouble

focusing or concentrating, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and difficulty relaxing even when

nothing is immediately wrong. Even these problems can be misinterpreted as personality flaws or

irresponsibility. It may seem like poor decision-making or failure to plan ahead, when it makes

much more sense when viewed within the context of chronic stress.

Chronic scarcity takes up a lot of mental capacity.

As much as financial scarcity affects what someone can purchase, it demands mental

attention. With limited resources, decisions that may seem small carry high stakes. When so

much attention is devoted to anticipating problems and responding to immediate needs, there is

less mental capacity available for things that may not be immediately urgent. What could look

like poor planning or irresponsibility from the outside, looks a lot different inside an

environment where there is very little room for error.

Poverty and Childhood

Even though children may not understand income, rent, insurance, gas prices, or utility

bills, they do notice their environments. They notice when their food or other resources are

limited, caregivers are stressed, housing is unstable, or when something they need can’t be

replaced. A child who is told, “Don’t break this because if you do, I can’t pay to get it fixed or

get you a new one,” is placed under more pressure than a child who has more room for accidents

to happen.

While not every child who experiences poverty will develop mental health concerns,

nervous systems adapt to the environments and experiences they encounter. Understanding a

child’s behavior therefore requires us to ask not only, “Why is this child behaving this way?” but

also, “What has this child had to adapt to?”

Mental Health Does Not Exist Outside of Context

Knowing what we know about poverty and the nervous system, we have one example of

why mental healthcare cannot focus exclusively on the individual and not the conditions

surrounding them. While coping skills, emotional regulation, supportive relationships, and

therapy can all be extremely beneficial to a person, sometimes they aren’t enough on their own.

Knowing how to do breathing exercises and reframe thoughts doesn’t make rent affordable and

housing stable. People can learn how to manage stress, but that does not eliminate the

circumstances reproducing that stress every day.

Supporting mental health therefore requires both individual and systemic approaches. At

the individual level, people deserve accessible and compassionate care that can meet them where

they are. It is imperative that the context of their life is considered before writing them off as

irresponsible, unmotivated, or dysfunctional. At the systemic level, mental health is connected to

access to affordable housing, livable wages, reliable transportation, food security, accessible

healthcare, community resources, and other conditions that make safety and stability possible.

Because the nervous system is continually adapting to the environment around it, healing

cannot only be about teaching people how to respond. We also have to be willing to ask what

needs to change about the environments they are being asked to adapt to every day.