Savers warned they may ‘never feel secure’ as psychologist highlights little-known finance disorder

Person worried about their finances
-Credit: (Image: GETTY)


Whenever it comes to finances the vast majority of people are taught to save as much as possible, whenever possible for the “rainy days” or to simple better their financial standing. However, this messaging can also be destructive for those with Disorder Money Behaviours (DMB).

This little-known disorder can have similar effects like its more widely known counterpart, eating disorders. It operates in a spectrum with the most obvious usually being reckless spenders who may struggle to pay bills due to living above their means or people with expensive addictions like gambling.

While these are generally frowned upon in society because of the evident consequences it has, the other side of the spectrum can be just as detrimental but will usually earn the person praise instead of admonishment. This is when saving money turns into a financial hoarding.

The Journal of Financial Therapy describes it as a symptom of financial desire and its top symptoms is a “miserly spending style” where the person sees the primary use of money as “something to be hoarded for future catastrophes”. This extreme form of savings can be damaging as people go without necessities, having poor self-care and extreme risk aversion despite having the means to better their life. These people also tend to very rarely allow themselves to have wants such as holidays, luxury purchases or gifts.

Chartered Psychologist Dr Mark Rackley spoke to Reach about the little-known disorder, revealing that it largely stems from how your attitude towards money is created in your childhood. He explained: “We are not born with an understanding of money, what it is and how it impacts life. We develop a relationship with money and this relationship is shaped by the relationship that our parents have with money and what their relationship is like.”

The psychologist elaborated, noting that people who grow up in families that have an abundance of money and spend it easily can leave them lacking the ability to assign value to money, meaning they’re more likely to spend it without thinking too hard. Because these people haven’t experienced the threat of not having money, they don’t fear losing it and as a consequence they don’t “feel secure in life” if they have savings.

Conversely, Dr Rackley continued: “If we grow up in poverty where money is scare and there maybe a lot of arguments around money, then we can develop a relationship with money that sees us saving, being frugal and being scared of running out of money as we have already experienced the threat and fear of living in poverty. We can develop an irrational fear of not having enough money and hoard money to feel secure and help us feel safe.”

This can cause a person ”live life with a fear of not having enough money and wanting to feel secure”, even if that means sacrificing necessities like food, clothing or furniture to put cash aside. Spending money on socialising or memory-making experiences will also likely be deemed too expensive, which means that while these people might feel secure with their hoard of savings, they’ll also likely be “feeling unhappy, isolated and depressed”.

“A healthy relationship with money is needed and for some they need to reestablish that to move it from unhealthy to healthy,” Dr Rackley explained. Hoarding disorders are notoriously hard to address and correct but the subsection of psychological delving into financial therapy is steadily growing to address the rising concerns of Disordered Money Behaviours.