Hand Over Your Money!

It’s giving you Affluenza.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

What is Affluenza? Affluenza was coined by an author, not psychologist, Paul Comstock, wherein a person suffers developmentally and psychologically because of having too much wealth (Kimmel, 2015).

Although not in any psychology manual, this affliction was successfully argued by a psychologist to grant teenager Ethan Couch probation after he killed 4 people and injured 11 while driving drunk back in 2013.

The winning ticket in his defense was Affluenza, a combination of Affluence and Influenza, also known as “luxury fever,” which graced the teenager with probation over the deaths and injuries he caused. Funny how the judge’s sentence allowed Couch a low level of responsibility for the havoc he wreaked, which was the very reason he supposedly committed the crime.

The irony was not lost on anyone when his mom exacerbated Couch’s condition by taking him to the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, where he was arrested for violating parole (Kaplan & Larimer, 2016).

If I had to assign Affluenza a seat in the DSM-5, the American Psychological Association’s mental health disorder bible, it might look something like this.

Disorder Class: Affluenza

Note: If the individual is of white identity, the following symptoms may be heightened. This would be listed as Affluenza in its severest form. See Affluenza-White-itis [/waɪt/-a‍ɪtɪs].

A. For 10 years or more, the individual must:

1. Earn over $106,000 annually

B. Possess 1–2 of the following:

1. Stocks
2. Bonds
3. Investment and Vacation Properties
4. Real Estate Investment Trusts (Maggiuli, 2020)

Individual must exhibit 3–5 of the symptoms in the following clusters: Depressive Type, Psychosis and Conduct Type, and Daily Functioning Type.

C. Depressive Type:

1. Significant weight loss or weight gain
2. Difficulty sleeping
3. Diminished pleasure in normally enjoyable activities

D. Daily Functioning

1. Difficulties with motivation
2. Difficulties with self-discipline

E. Psychosis and Conduct

1. Distorted view of the world and self
2. Overemphasis on money
3. Hallucinations of grandeur
4. Inflated sense of invincibility
5. Deficits in accountability when not adhering to social or legal norms
6. Entitlement without evidence correlated to actual accomplishments

Since the source of the Affluenza affliction traces back to the effects of surplus money, all treatment ought to target the root cause. Like Biggie says (1997), “Mo Money Mo Problems.”

Successful treatment will fall outside a clinical scope. Decrease the money, decrease the problem. And people worry that taxing the rich would be too burdensome. This social remedy could be the cure!

References

Kaplan, S. & Larimer, (2016, December 5). ‘Affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch captured in Mexico with his mother. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/29/reports-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-has-been-detained-in-mexico/

Kimmel, J. (2015, n.d.). Affluenza: When too much is not enough. Kimmel Psychology. https://kimmelpsychology.com/affluenza-much-enough/

Maggiulli, N. (2020, September 15). The 9 best income-producing assets to grow your wealth. Of Dollars and Data. https://ofdollarsanddata.com/income-producing-assets/

Notorious B.I.G. (1997). Mo money mo problems [Song]. On Life after death [Album]. Bad boy. Arista.