Depressed young male smoking cigarette, drinking alcohol and holding his head in hand.
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Can money buy happiness? Contrary to what some might imagine, a million-dollar paycheck doesn’t necessarily include an issue free pass.
While wealth can bring with it some unconventional problems — equivalent to being denied an invite-only Ferrari and unintentionally destroying swathes of coral reefs with a 300-foot yacht — most other problems that the wealthy face will not be as esoteric as we predict.
In keeping with therapists that CNBC spoke to, most of the time, the super-rich struggle with feelings of isolation, depression, and paranoia, amongst others — a spectrum of emotions that many others are likely to share.
“Most individuals cannot understand how wealthy people can have problems. They dismiss wealthy people’s mental health concerns as insignificant and of diminished importance,” Paul Hokemeyer, a clinical psychotherapist who treats the ultra wealthy, told CNBC. Â
1. Feelings of isolation
A top problem that Hokemeyer’s clients suffer from is chronic isolation.Â
“They live in such a rarified place of the highest 1% where there are only a few individuals who share the realities of their world,” said the founding principal of Drayson Mews clinic, who shared that the super wealthy often can’t be fully certain if people like them for who they’re, or for what they’ve.
Their relationships change into defined for what they’ll provide to others fairly than for who they’re of themselves.
“People are likely to see you as lucky and joyful — neither could also be true,” said Amanda Falkson, a psychotherapist versed in wealth counseling at Psychotherapy City.
She noted that they too face the gamut of emotions equivalent to grief, trauma, losses and difficult relationships. But along with that, pressure on how the cash is spent, and who to trust.
“Wealth will be pretty isolating … sometimes all eyes are on you to see what you do together with your money,” she said, noting that some clients face the pressure of how they hope to be remembered, and where the cash should go — whether or not it’s investments, philanthropy, or legacy constructing.Â
2. Paranoia and distrust
Wealth may cause people across the super wealthy to view them as objects, Hokemeyer observed.
People who find themselves wealthy are likely to be of upper social status, and those that live in diminished states of power are sometimes drawn to them. The latter could see the rich as ladders to raise them into more powerful positions, he said.
The psychotherapist shared that his clients are sometimes bombarded by a never-ending stream of requests.
“Their relationships change into defined for what they’ll provide to others fairly than for who they’re of themselves,” he added. Against this backdrop, the super wealthy are likely to change into more suspicious of individuals’s motives in associating with them.
Woman in a hot tub.
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Because of this, it will probably even be difficult to calibrate relationship dynamics of rich individuals whose partners may not have equal wealth or income, said Hokemeyer.Â
Often, the spouse who’s more comfortable may feel they’re “getting used” for his or her money, and the partner with less financial power can sometimes be stereotyped as a “gold digger” or looked upon negatively.
3. Distorted sense of purpose
There may be also a difference between those that earned their wealth in comparison with those that inherited it or suddenly got here upon a big sum of cash.
Individuals who became wealthy because of this of their very own achievements have what’s often called a powerful internal locus of control, said Hokemeyer. They feel in charge and liable for the trajectory of their lives, and are confident of their ability to make cash again should they lose it.
Conversely, those that suddenly acquire wealth — be it through an inheritance or selling of a business — may find it harder to regulate to their latest spending power, status and circumstances, the psychotherapists said. Also they are less confident in handling and maintaining their wealth.
The sudden influx of wealth can often result in existential identity challenges and strains on relationships, said Falkson.Â
“When there isn’t any have to work, where do you get your sense of meaning and purpose and structure? Do you change into a walking dollar sign? Where do I slot in socially now that I’m not a part of my old world anymore?” she said, voicing a few of her clients’ concerns.
“Wealth doesn’t take away our human needs. And having meaning and purpose in life are very vital needs.”
