|
The Dynamics of Debt
by Lesli Musicar
In our society, living in debt is normal. So is shopping for fun and gambling, two of the most common ways we get into debt. On the surface, shopping and gambling may seem very different. But both involve spending money, and getting instant rewards. And in the moment, both can make us feel powerful. With shopping, all it takes is a thin piece of plastic to get what we want when we want it. With gambling, there’s the adrenalin high of challenging fate and the illusion that we can control it.
As we all know, both shopping and gambling can be taken to an extreme. And once they are out of control, these activities can create a set of problems all their own. It is called unmanageable debt.
Childhood Trauma and Debt
There is another way of looking at out-of-control spending, gambling, and unmanageable debt. This is by seeing them as ways of coping with the aftereffects of trauma. When we think of traumatic events, most of us think of tornadoes, floods, or war. And these are without question traumatic. It is because they are overwhelming and inescapable. But for a child, lots of day-to-day events can fit into this category.
Children lack the resources, both psychologically and practically, that adults have to protect themselves. So children are easily traumatized. This occurs in homes where, for example, there is addiction, chronic illness, violence, or abuse. Marital breakdown is another common source of trauma for a child. So is life as a new immigrant, especially when there are profound language and cultural differences for the family.
If traumatic injuries are not adequately healed at the time, they will interfere with our day-to-day lives later. They may manifest as addictive behaviour, such as compulsive shopping or gambling. But what we are really seeing is the body trying to tell the story of our
|
