Is spending money a trauma response? (2024)

FAQs

Is overspending a trauma response? ›

when you are emotionally stressed, the part of your brain that can make conscious decisions shuts down. If you're an overspender, maybe you soothe tough emotions or stress by impulse spending or just spending more than you wanted to. Once those frontal lobes come back online, you might find yourself regretting it.

Emotional spending is a common coping mechanism that provides an effective, albeit temporary distraction from negative thoughts and feelings.

Financial trauma refers to the distress associated with chronic money-related stress, lack of resources, or financial abuse. These difficulties can overwhelm the ability to cope with stress, thus leaving many stuck in a state of heightened anxiety, fear, or anger.

A traumatic event is a shocking, scary, or dangerous experience that can affect someone emotionally and physically.

"Overspending is often more than just a lapse in financial judgment; it frequently signals underlying emotional or psychological triggers. For instance, some people may overspend as a form of escapism, temporarily distracting themselves from stress or emotional pain," Hathai says.

If you experience symptoms like mania or hypomania, you might spend more money or make impulsive financial decisions. You might have an addiction or dependency which makes you spend money.

This is known as the “psychology of spending.” Spending money, as opposed to saving, provides an instant feeling of gratification and control. We may spend to fill perceived voids in our lives, to please others, feel “better than” others, or a whole host of other emotionally-driven reasons.

Getting something new can be fun and exciting. Even if you're shopping for home necessities, the experience of buying something nice can make you feel accomplished. In fact, research from 2014 points out that making purchases helps alleviate sadness and gives a sense of control.

One of the most devastating forms of trauma a child can experience is witnessing the death, suicide, or murder of another person. This type of traumatic event can leave children with intense feelings of fear and helplessness. They may also develop symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, and depression.

How do you release financial trauma? ›

$232.2 billion

Estimated annual cost of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the United States among all U.S. civilians, active-duty military personnel, and veterans.

Symptoms of trauma include avoidance of the stimuli associated with the trauma, increased reactivity, and re-experiencing the fear of the trauma at different points in a day.

While not a clinical term, trauma dumping is when someone unloads the details of their traumatic experience onto someone without regard for its impact, says Naomi Torres-Mackie, Ph. D., a clinical psychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and head of research at The Mental Health Coalition.

If you can recall times when you've overreacted, and perhaps have even been surprised at your own reactions, this may be a sign of trauma. It's not uncommon for people suffering from emotional trauma to have feelings of shame and self-blame.

According to the findings of the research, traumatic experiences in childhood can also lead to compulsive buying behavior in adulthood (e.g., Sommer et al., 2020).

Loss of Control and Powerlessness: Trauma often instils a sense of powerlessness and helplessness. The desire for a semblance of control over others' perceptions prompts individuals to overexplain, attempting to influence how they are perceived.

What is emotional spending? Emotion-driven spending is spending driven by feelings rather than by a rational assessment of one's needs. The intimate connection between our emotions and our financial decisions is a complex phenomenon.

Unfortunately, overspending typically leads to large amounts of debt. That debt then needs to be repaid—with interest!