As humans, we have a complicated relationship with money. We need it to survive. And we can become unhappy if we don’t have enough of it to pay our bills. But it becomes a crutch when we use it to fill an emotional need or to fix or avoid a problem.
To help us better understand money disorders, here’s a closer look at what causes them and tips on how to fix them.
Common types of money disorders
Money disorders refer to unhealthy financial behaviors that are built by what we learned about money and personal finance when we were growing up. Our emotional experiences connected to money occur earlier in our life and can leave a big impact on our thoughts about money.
Here are a few of the most common disorders:
- Financial avoidance. This is a conscious or unconscious aversion to financial tasks and responsibilities, such as not opening bills, not checking account balances or avoiding creditors. It’s what happens when the emotional distress linked with financial tasks becomes significant enough that the mind’s protective mechanisms kick in to steer you away from the source of that distress.1
- Money worship. It’s a problem when someone equates having or spending money with a sense of happiness and a way to solve their problems. Money worship might take the form of compulsive shopping, being a workaholic, gambling or spending paychecks before they’re received.2
- Financial infidelity. Relationships are at the core of this disorder. Financial infidelity involves the act of hiding financial transactions or information from a partner in a committed relationship with combined finances. Examples include hiding debt, making large purchases without tell the other partner or being untruthful about spending.3
The effects of money disorders
Money disorders can lead to financial strain that affects a person’s family and their day-to-day life and well-being. These disorders can wreak havoc on a person’s mental and emotional health, resulting in other unhealthy habits.
Treating money disorders
The good news is that money disorders are treatable. A newer field, financial therapy, as defined by the Financial Therapy Association, is a “process informed by both therapeutic and financial competencies that helps people think, feel, communicate and behave differently with money to improve overall well-being through evidence-based practices and interventions.”4
Support and advice are geared specifically toward the financial realm and the stresses that go along with it. While financial therapy may focus on aspects of financial literacy, it also addresses an individual’s underlying emotional and psychological relationship with money.
Simply thinking about why you feel and behave the way you do when it comes to money can be eye-opening — and lead to better decision-making and fewer impulse buys.
As with any relationship, it takes effort and commitment to achieve a healthy relationship with money. Be open to discussing your situation with your partner or a professional and set goals for your success.
Remember that money doesn’t buy happiness, but how you think about money can.
