Key takeaways
- Financial trauma is a growing issue defined as a dysfunctional reaction to chronic financial stress.
- People with financial trauma develop bad behaviors similar to those of PTSD.
- If you find yourself under prolonged financial stress, seek help immediately.
I have a very good friend who often tells me a story about when he was a kid and he and his dad went to the grocery store together. Invariably, every now and again, his dad would pull out his wallet when it was time to pay for their groceries, and say, “Oh, there’s no money in here. Did you bring the money?” And, of course, he was sort of dumbfounded.
It’s interesting because he still tells that story a lot. I think there’s a little bit of financial trauma surrounding those experiences at the grocery checkout. I know his dad was just trying to be funny, but it’s obvious my friend didn’t take it that way as a child.
Financial trauma. What’s this all about?
Recently, we ran across a company called psyML. The ML stands for “machine learning” and the company consists of data scientists, psychologists, and content writers. They define financial trauma as a dysfunctional reaction to chronic financial stress.
Why is that important?
They’ve seen that this reaction to chronic financial stress is similar to PTSD behavior. So, they’re looking at people who are set up like this: expenses outweigh income for an extended period of time—month after month. This sets them up for bad behavioral reactions to the situation.
In other words, they develop certain behaviors from this financial trauma that mimic a PTSD-like state. In response, the company is holding workshops focused on helping employers deal with this because they have employees who exhibit signs of financial trauma.
This is important, and if you find yourself in a situation where, for an extended period of time, you don’t have enough income to pay your bills, there’s a good chance you may end up with financial trauma.
Now, I haven’t seen the actual studies on this, so maybe it wouldn’t happen to you. But I can say I’ve seen people exhibiting these bad behaviors in response to prolonged financial stress. They’re constantly running scared because bill collectors are after them. They feel out of control. I’ve seen a lot of this, but never realized it could approach a PTSD-like level.
Certainly, no one wants to end up in this situation, so this is a word of warning. If you find yourself in a situation where you feel powerless and out of control and realize your reactions aren’t leading anywhere good, get help right away. There are many resources available to help you become more financially stable. It may involve revamping your entire lifestyle to ensure you get things back under control, so that your income covers your expenses.
It will be interesting to see more about how psyML helps us address this growing issue in the future. Until next time, enjoy.
Gary
Copyright © 2019 Protinus. All rights reserved.
