Money, Well-Being, and Implications for Mental Health

Abstract

Literature has shown there is little or no correlation between money and increased well-being, that monetary pursuits and material possessions are extrinsic goals that can become detrimental to one’s psychological well-being, and materialism may actually lower a person’s well-being as these people have unrealistically high standards in comparison to others. Research has shown that the answer as to what increases one’s well-being lies largely in social relationships and religion. Because many people enter counseling to reduce their psychological distress, mental health practitioners can: (1) assist their clients in identifying when their monetary and/or material pursuits may have morphed into an obsessive behavioral pattern known as Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), (2) help their clients examine the etiology behind their dysfunctional thoughts and unhealthy behaviors by utilizing family-of-origin work, (3) aid their clients in changing dysfunctional thoughts through cognitive restructuring, and (4) support their clients in finding meaning in life through spirituality.