Experts working in the behavioral sciences say the country's financial crisis is having an effect on our psyches.

The anxiety level is high, they say, and people are expressing their frustrations to therapists.

Unlike 9/11, the threatened financial meltdown of the American economy is producing a different and more subtle kind of anxiety.

Psychologist Dr. John Malouf says this calamity may have a more prolonged impact on our emotions.

Financial erosion, especially for lifelong savings or investments, hits a very personal core in our psyche. The shadows fall in almost every arena people come in contact with.

Dr. Malouf says the best therapy is often the passage of time, but this crisis has no time frame, so people have to deal with their anxiety on sort of an ongoing -- no end basis.

But he does have some advice… don't let it happen, he says. Take this meltdown a day at a time.