Money is necessary to subsist in the world we currently inhabit.. The economic system under which we are governed makes it practically impossible to think of living without money, since all the goods and services we consume on a daily basis have a monetary cost.
So all those who are capable and responsible for producing it, whether they are more or less in agreement with the economic system, have no choice but to live under its yoke.
- Related article: “The 20 strangest phobias of the human being”.
Why do some people become obsessed with money?
At first glance, work is the way we get money. But when an obsession with money sets in, the strategies to get it may even go beyond what is legal or healthy.
It’s one thing to worry about money and another to live obsessed by it.. When financial resources become scarce, whether due to personal or systemic issues, the preoccupation with money becomes intense and it becomes difficult to enjoy other aspects of life. The stress of not being able to meet needs through money becomes overwhelming.
The 9 causes of crematomania
But there are people who go beyond this limit and suffer from an obsession with money, also known as crematomania.also known as crematomania. This psychological disorder can have negative consequences for the health of the person affected.
Here are some reasons why people can develop an unhealthy obsession with money.
1. Positive reinforcement
The cycle involved in obtaining money generates a sense of satisfaction.. After an effort is made, the reward comes. When the effort is work and the reward is money, it becomes the immediate satisfier that serves as positive reinforcement. This psychological mechanism is very similar to that experienced by those affected by pathological gambling.
Feeling that our efforts have a monetary compensation is something that pleases all human beings. The sensation of obtaining a prize or reward is pleasant and we tend to carry out different actions to be able to repeat that sensation. However, if this gets out of control, a person can become obsessed with the work-get-money cycle just to feel the continuous positive reinforcement.
2. Need for approval
People can develop an obsession with money because of their own need for approval.. Our society seems to have already regularly associated success with the accumulation of wealth and possessions.
As a result, the people with the most money are the ones who are considered the most successful. In turn, successful people are applauded and recognized in their social and work circles. When a person feels this excessive need for approval, he or she may find in the accumulation of wealth the perfect means to obtain this social recognition.
3. Fear
Fear and uncertainty about the future are one reason for the obsession with money.. Especially if the person suffered excessive shortages in his childhood, or if he previously went through a moment of bankruptcy, the fear of it happening again can lead him to accumulate money and to raise all his daily life on the basis of how profitable his efforts are.
This clearly becomes an obsession, and it is also possible that obtaining more and more money ends up becoming accumulation. That is to say, the interest of the person obsessed with money is not so much to obtain money to carry out a certain life plan, but rather he feels an imperious need to accumulate savings to prevent a future situation of “lean cows”. Their constant thought is to protect themselves for an uncertain future.
4. Power
There are people who seek to exercise power and find money to be an effective tool.. Far from a genuine attitude of leadership, some like to exercise power and coercion over others. It is common to believe that power and respect go hand in hand.
For some people, having wealth and purchasing power gives them a sense of excessive security that leads them to have despot attitudes in which they find satisfaction. Money becomes their backing in order to justify their actions and, unfortunately, many around them allow this negative attitude.
5. Emotion
There are cases of people obsessed with money who did it for the thrill of it.. They are people who have risked their life or their freedom in order to obtain large sums of money, and this becomes their obsession.
Beyond seeing work as a means to obtain wealth, they look for illegal means to make money. They are more focused on the thrill and adrenaline rush that this gives them and their great motivation is the wealth and luxuries they can obtain, even if this entails a very real danger of losing their freedom or getting injured or in serious trouble.
6. Dissatisfaction
A constantly dissatisfied person looks to money for what he cannot fill.. Faced with eternal dissatisfaction, there are people who move on without stopping to think about the reason why nothing fills that emotional void.
Money and what can be bought with it offer immediate stimuli of satisfaction that alleviate that feeling of emptiness. For this reason they become obsessed with money as a means to obtain material things that provide them with pleasant moments very close to happiness.
7. Poor social skills
When someone is excessively shy and discovers that money can help in this, they can become obsessed by it.. There are many cases of men and women who, because of their poor social skills, make money their ally to have friends and even a partner.
In this society that links money to success and pleasure, a person who is financially solvent attracts the attention of people who seek nothing more than material things. So when a person with difficulty socializing understands that it is money that attracts people, he or she may develop an obsession with money in order not to be alone and to gain social acceptance.
8. Personal and work life without clear boundaries
Nowadays, personal and work life are combined in time and space.. Technology has allowed many tasks to be carried out outside the typical workplace. Thus, it is common to leave work hours and come home to continue working.
This has blurred the boundary between work and personal life. It seems that those times when one worked to earn money to spend in one’s personal life are no longer valid. Nowadays there is a tendency to work to have money, in order to continue working, and this circle provokes in some people an obsession for money that emerges as the only reason to continue in this rhythm of life.
9. Workaholism
Workaholism is a socially accepted type of obsession.. A person who works too much is usually not frowned upon by society, although the reasons behind this are very similar to that of any other type of addiction. Although it is a psychological problem, the reward in terms of respect within the company and outside as someone extremely professional, may cause the individual not to realize that it is unhealthy to work so many hours.
Workaholics usually develop an obsession with money as well. It is the most authentic and respected way for their environment to justify their addiction. If so much work generates more and more money, their addiction seems to have a valid reason and then it becomes their raison d’être.