How to tell if you have a money disorder and get rid of it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Sometimes financial problems are not just indiscipline, but almost a diagnosis.

If you spend too much, live beyond your means, and run into debt, you’re probably used to thinking of yourself as a lax spender who simply doesn’t know how to handle money. But your behavior could be a sign of a real money disorder. We will tell you how it manifests itself and what you can do with it.

What is money disorder

Brad Klontz, professor of psychology, believes that any financial behavior that leads to devastating consequences can be considered a monetary disorder. In other words, you are not just earning less than you could, but doing things that seriously affect your life, health, relationships with loved ones and career.

In the United States, monetary disorders can be found in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders, a classification of mental illness created by the American Psychiatric Society. But in Russia, such a diagnosis is not made. Unless a person suffers from one of the varieties of monetary disorder - gambling addiction, it can be found in the ICD-10 under the code F.63.

At first glance, it may seem that the symptoms of money disorder are just squandering or, conversely, stinginess.

But in fact, they are much more diverse. Here are the signs that psychologists identify:

• You don't like talking about money. You do not admit to anyone that you have problems, and prefer even to tell your relatives that everything is fine.
• You are suddenly spending significantly more or significantly less than before. At the same time, there are no objective reasons for such changes.
• You are abusing credit cards. For example, you systematically pay with them even for basic purchases like groceries. Or you issue a new credit card to pay off the debt on the old one. This behavior suggests that you have ignored your problems for quite some time and now they have taken on a dangerous scale.
• When you think about money, you feel anxious and depressed.
• You get annoyed or, conversely, withdraw into yourself when they try to talk to you about finances.
• You have dramatically lost weight or, on the contrary, gained weight. You constantly feel tired, sleep poorly.
• You work much more than usual, stay up late in the office, take work home. You cannot relax and rest, you constantly feel the need to get even more money.
• You hardly force yourself to spend even on really necessary things and after each trip to the store you are upset for a long time.
• You often make impulsive purchases beyond your means, and then you feel guilty.

What is money disorder

Specialists combine all manifestations of monetary disorder into several groups.

1. Compulsive spending

That is, a painful addiction to shopping and an irresistible desire to go shopping. This condition is also called shopaholism, and about 6% of people are exposed to it. Before making a purchase, a person feels uplifted and enthusiastic, and when money is spent, he feels immensely guilty and depressed.

2. Hoarding and extreme savings

Here the situation is exactly the opposite. A person is obsessed with the idea of saving as much money as possible and at the same time is panicky afraid to spend even a penny. In the most severe cases, such pathological storage devices, having impressive sums on their accounts, sleep on a bare mattress and rummage through garbage cans. Like the American Kei Hashimoto, who lives on about $ 15 a month with a fairly decent income.

3. Workaholism

Surely there are a couple of people in your environment who proudly call themselves workaholics and consider this a positive quality. But true workaholism is a pathological condition that makes a person obsessed with work and earnings. Labor becomes a real addiction, and the one who suffers from it overloads himself, cannot rest and constantly experiences anxiety.

4. Gambling addiction

She's gambling addiction, or a pathological attraction to gambling. This diagnosis has been known for a long time and is even included in the ICD-10. A person develops a painful need to constantly participate in gambling, for which, of course, he spends all his own, and sometimes other people's money.

5. Financial lies

A person deceives loved ones, provides them with incorrect information about their income, loans, savings and spending. Because he is afraid of condemnation and feels strong discomfort when talking about these topics.

6. Excessive custody

This story is typical mainly for very wealthy people. It so happens that they overwhelm their loved ones and children with money, instantly rush to solve any of their problems - even if no one asked for it - and as a result they do not allow them to take the initiative and learn how to earn money on their own.

7. Financial dependence

The opposite situation. Because of fears or infantilism, a person does not earn money on his own (although he may well do this) and completely shifts the responsibility for his support to someone else. For example, a spouse or parents. This does not apply to cases where the family has deliberately made the decision that one works, and the other looks after the house and children.

8. Financial imprudence

Sometimes this behavior is even called financial abuse. The bottom line is that parents involve children in their material problems and provide information that, due to their age, they do not need to know yet. For example, they constantly complain about the lack of money, admit that they can be fired, or ask the child to communicate with collectors. Since children in this situation are completely helpless and cannot earn money on their own, after such requests and statements they experience severe stress and do not feel safe.

9. Denial

A person simply ignores all his monetary difficulties and pretends that they do not exist. Because thinking about problems is too painful for him. In some cases, such “deniers” throw out bills without reading and drop calls from the bank.

Causes of Monetary Disorder

1. Settings

There is still an idea that money is something low and dirty, and that it is unworthy to strive to earn more.

People who believe in this believe that an honest and spiritual person will certainly be helped by higher powers if something happens.

“God gave a bunny, and he will give a lawn” - something like that. Because of this approach, people do not know how to handle money, do not look for opportunities for additional income and make themselves a lot of financial problems.

2. Education

We often learn our attitude to money from our parents. If the family kept financial records, carefully planned spending, practiced reasonable economy and taught all this to the child, a person will handle money wisely even in adulthood. And everything will be completely different if the parents were spenders, always sat in debt and did not instill in their children the basics of financial literacy.

3. Mental illness

Inability to handle money, compulsive spending, addiction and denial of financial problems can all be manifestations of mental disorders. For example, depression or bipolar disorder.

How to get rid of a money disorder

Since this is not a diagnosis, but it has quite a lot of options and manifestations, each case needs its own approach. But there are also several universal recommendations.

1. Admit the problem and try to fix it yourself

You will have to admit at least to yourself that your spending, debts, or, conversely, extreme savings can ruin your career, relationships, family. And these problems make you constantly live in anxiety and stress, lie to your loved ones, run from the collectors.

As a result, no one but you will fix this situation.

This means that it is you who will have to analyze your financial situation, write out all loans and unreasonable expenses, think over a plan for paying off debts and start keeping records of income and expenses. If this is too difficult to do on your own, it will not be superfluous to contact a financial advisor. Yes, they also exist in Russia.

2. Walk the 12 steps

There are several groups of anonymous debtors or anonymous spenders in Russia. They work on the well-known 12-Step Addiction Recovery Program and, with the mutual support of all participants, help overcome money problems and develop healthy financial habits.

3. Ask for help

For example, tell your loved ones about everything who can listen to you and support you. Or contact a psychotherapist who will help you understand where the legs of your unreasonable spending, addictions and other problems grow from. And at the same time it will show you the way to financial and mental recovery.