It's pretty complicated in my case but I've had classic periods of mania
associated with taking out unnecessary loans, crazy business ideas and
reckless spending.
A preventative treatment of reckless spending can be to train an
individual to be an expert consumer and a very good shopper.
The "prosumer", which is a term I believe may have been coined by Alvin
Toffler in his book The Third Wave, is a natural development in society.
It is a word that describes the sort of shopper. The one that knows more
than the salesperson. An expert patient would be the analogous concept
in mental health. Developing the skills to required for modern expert
shopping, e.g. the ability to search effectively, critically assess
online and other sources of information, have the experience to make
assessments of value and performance, comparing prices, doing it quickly
etc in people with an assessed risk of reckless spending or bipolar may,
perhaps, slow down the buying process and reduce the impact of debt
caused by reckless spending.
The very good shopper part is about becoming a bargain hunter and
valuing the feeling of acquiring a bargain (though, as always with these
things, this effect becomes deadened with time). Again this is about
slowly down the buying process and reducing the financial impact of
reckless spending. Effective shopping is opportunity shopping, shopping
secondhand, buying off-brand, haggling, taking time to get the best deal
etc. Its also knowing when to break those rules which is a valuable
skill however in reckless periods this capability becomes risky, e.g,
someone can get to the state where they go "oh fuck it!"
I think these two sets of skills have helped to avoid a mania diagnosis
and reduced the impact of "high" periods. I can spend a long time trying
to get the best deal but were I in a similar state 7 years ago I would
have taken out a loan and bought what I wanted rather than spend time to
get what I needed and take no loans.
The impact of mania can be devastating and beyond financial status. It
has taken so much from me and I still choose to risk it again. But I
never want to get in debt again. Poverty has helped me learn how.
The direct effects of debt are not well studied and it's only recently
that there's been a surge in academic and professional interest on the
impact of debt and mental health, much of it spearheaded by Mind's
exceptional Debt and mental health campaign. The research available was
limited and there is a desperate need for the results of the high
quality studies to be turned into practical, real world solutions
because in a reession economy there are going to be a heck of a lot more
people going through what I went through.
Financial crisis can be a life changing experience for many people. The
financial system is not designed for people who have periods of
unwellness. The debt system is based on continued employment. This is a
privilege that's not available to all but a few of the severely mentally
ill. Regrettably were that recognised the system would exclude anyone
with a severe mental illness from taking out large just as society
excludes someone from being a director or an MP if they've been sectioned.
The current work on regulation of baliffs is a welcomed move towards a
more humane system but it's like pissing in the ocean. The entire
personal debt system needs to be revisited if it is to be considered
safe because at the moment it's killing people through suicide and
wrecking people's mental health whether they're mentally ill or not.
Bankruptcy was the option given to me after my second hospitalisation
after a failed suicide attempt after I got into a crisis debt situation.
That causes a high level of future financial exclusion and creates
virtually insurmountable barriers to future career prospects as well as
the problems caused by the stigma of bankrupcy. The other option is the
IVA (Informal Voluntary Agreement?) where a loan can be paid off in 5
years with much of the debt written off but the individual forced to
live in poverty. An assessment is made of income and outgoings with the
aim to redoing expenditure to a bare minimum. This can rapidly take an
individual from living a good quality of life to living at or below the
poverty line. I'm sure there's research into this effect. Social
exclusion often ensues and the damaging effects of this are well
studied. An individual's capability for recovery is severely lowered.
As with all things in my life there are positives now I can see past the
tragedies. Through poverty I learned to value material things less.
Through social exclusion I have learned more about myself and become
less dependent on other people. Through the suffering I have learned to
tolerate situations that would break other people. I learned the value
of never giving up on something I love. I learned what Nietszche
probably meant when he said "What ever doesn't kill you will make you
stronger."
It's just not something I'd want anyone else to go through.
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