3 Ways to Cope With the Emotional Effects of Foreclosure

A foreclosure can be extremely difficult for anyone to go through. Your home might become a foreclosure because you lost your job and couldn't make payments. You might have been injured at work and now you're unable to earn money or make mortgage payments. Maybe you've become burdened with credit card debt and it became too late to get yourself out of trouble.

Whatever the reason might be, having the bank take your home away can be very traumatic. After experiencing foreclosure, you might suffer from severe mental health issues due to stress and trauma. If you're going through this difficult time, here are three ways to cope.

Focus on what you need to do, not what's happening to you.

When you learn that your house will be foreclosed, it can be easy to slip into despair. You start to think there's nothing you can do and that everything you have is going to be taken away from you. While it's important to feel grief, you can't let it consume you. Acknowledge that this is a tough situation you're in but that there are things you can do.

At this stage, you've already received the notice of default, which lets you know that you've missed 90 days of payments. You then have another 90 days to settle the loan. If you have the means to do this, then you can save your home from foreclosure. If you don't have the funds, then your home will be sold in a public auction and you will have to move.

The length of this process means you most likely have three to six months to come to terms with what's happening and focus on the steps you need to take. If there's no way you can settle the loan, you'll need to pack up your things and find a new place to live. There are intense emotions associated with foreclosure, but try to spend your energy on making good things happen for you. This might be the "push" you needed to move to a new city and start over. Spend this time focusing on what you need to do to start a new life.

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Start going to therapy.

After (or even before) everything is settled with the foreclosure, start attending the Therapy Group of NYC. Working with a qualified therapist will help you process what's happened to you and how you've handled the situation. The increased risk of depression and suicide means you want to do what you can to lessen the negative thoughts in your head.

Going to therapy gives you a safe space to process your emotions and discover new coping strategies. You might meet with a weekly support group or do individual sessions with a therapist who can help you understand what you're feeling. A foreclosure is a huge event in anyone's life, so don't just sweep it under the rug. You might be recovering from the emotional trauma of this for a long time and working with a professional will help you stay happy and healthy.

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Learn from this experience.

Ultimately, you'll want to learn from this experience and prevent it from happening again. Even if you know you can't do anything about your current home, you might want to Google "save home from foreclosure" and learn what to do in the future. The next time you plan to buy a home, make sure you're prepared for the financial burden. If you think you might default on payments, contact your lender ahead of time.

Learn everything you can about foreclosure so you're prepared in the future. You may be able to prevent this from happening to you again if you stay level-headed and talk with a lawyer as soon as you realize you might be in trouble. A great lawyer can help you understand Kentucky's foreclosure law and look at your options. Timing is important in foreclosures and the right lawyer can make sure you stop the sale of your home before you lose your rights. It might not be too late to recover your home, either now or in the future, so learn from what you're going through and communicate with an experienced attorney who can help you understand what to do.

Having a home go into foreclosure can cause you to feel helpless and hopeless. Instead of becoming depressed, focus on what you can do, both now and in the future. Work to become emotionally and financially healthy and you can prevent this from ever happening to you again.

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