Worried about financial matters? Spend time with the people who matter most.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Feel like the sinking economy is dragging you down with it? Can’t stop yourself from checking the Dow, your portfolio, or your 401(k) account several times a day? Finding it impossible to avoid the nightly warnings from that bald financial expert on CNN? Don’t worry—bombarding yourself with bad news is actually a pretty normal reaction, says Jeff Rossman, PhD, Rodale.com advisor and director of life management at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. “Our brains are hard-wired for hard times,” he says. “Nature has given us a fight-or-flight instinct that makes us vigilant for threats. When our ancestors contended with saber-toothed tigers on the savanna, smart humans noticed which direction they came from and kept their eyes on it.”

The hitch, says Rossman, is that complex problems like today’s economic catastrophe last much longer than a tiger attack. So our instinct to be always looking over our shoulders can sap our energy and depress our mood. “We have to learn other ways of dealing with uncertainty, and accept that certain things are beyond our control,” he says. But having to cope with economic loss can have an upside, too, he adds. “I’m hearing from people that they’re making choices not go out, not to spend time shopping for new stuff. And often they’re not missing what they used to spend their time and money on. People are spending more time playing games with their kids; they’re spending quality time with their loved ones. And they’re loving it.”

Here are Rossman’s suggestions for giving your mood a stimulus package—without digging yourself deeper into debt.