Bipolar excessive spending

Don't be another victim and let bipolar excessive spending ruin your life.

Protect your family.

It is never too early or too late.

One of the most common symptoms of bipolar disorder is impulsive and irrational spending.

Bipolar expert, Dr Ronald R. Fieve, describes bipolar excessive spending in his book Moodswing like this: "the lifestyle of the manic-depressive who is in a high tends to be a glorious scattering of money".

This "glorious scattering of money" can take many forms:

1. It may be wild shopping sprees with a self-medicating overtone.

2. It may be crazy investments when our bipolar grandiosity is telling us we can do no wrong.

3. It is not always about a spending spree - Patty Duke did her share of bipolar exessive spending, which she describes candidly in her autobiography - but the best example of how bipolar screwed up her relationship with money was Patty asking two strangers she literally met in a parking lot to become her business managers (no prizes for guessing how that worked out!)

4. It may be extravagant gifts to family, friends or charity - again arising from manic grandiosity.

5. Or in some very distressing scenarios, it may be spending a fortune on travel, hotels, pornography, prostitution, champagne and lingerie in an extra-marital affair, cybersex, or whatever outlet manic hypersexuality can find.

6. Gambling more than one can afford, for example on horse racing, online poker or the Vegas slots - another nightmare scenario for one's loved ones.

7. It may even be . . . ? The truth is the variations are endless.

In The Spending Spree, by Jeff Wuorio, in bp Magazine, Spring 2005, a variety of destructive examples are described.

My personal experience is that it is excessive spending and hypersexuality that are the two absolute hallmarks of bipolar disorder. Even though I had done a variety of truly crazy things (you can read about them in About Me) it was my describing a $7000 shopping spree I went on in Grad School that finally led to my psychiatrist correctly diagnosing me - and saving my life!

PLEASE NOTE: If you have been having a spending episode - or several - and your finances are in bad shape, please go now to our page on Bipolar Debt.

Bipolar excessive spending vs compulsive shopping

So how do we tell the difference between manic or bipolar spending versus "ordinary" compulsive spending?

This question was addressed in a research study by John M. Kuzma, MD and Donald W. Black, MD, "Compulsive shopping: When spending begins to consume the consumer":

"Bipolar mania and excessive spending related to a compulsive buying disorder are relatively easy to differentiate:

The manic patient’s unrestrained spending sprees correspond to manic episodes and are accompanied by euphoric mood, grandiosity, unrealistic plans, and often a giddy, overly bright affect.

The compulsive shopper’s spending occurs year-round in a pattern suggesting ongoing preoccupation.

The compulsive buyer may feel happy (or powerful) while shopping, but these transitory emotions are usually followed by letdown or guilt. The compulsive shopper is distressed by his or her activity and will often hide the evidence.

Not so for the manic, who may boast of his or her spending, display the evidence, and try to convince family and friends that the purchase is necessary or fits into some grandiose scheme. “Who doesn’t need two BMWs?” a manic patient said."

I wasn't a compulsive shopper! What I was doing was bipolar excessive spending - and finally understanding that changed everything.

Precautions

These precautions are ideally agreed to ahead of time, before you face runaway bipolar excessive spending. Regardless of whether you a bipolar person, or closely connected to someone with bipolar, YOU NEED A PLAN! At the very first signs of bipolar excessive spending OR THE ONSET OF A MANIC EPISODE, this plan MUST go into effect.

- Restrict or monitor Internet use. This is to avoid both online shopping and gambling, and sex related activities such as pornography or cybersex. It may also help prevent the bipolar person from isolating and retreating into themselves too much.

- As much as you can, take cash, credit cards and ATM cards for safekeeping. If things seem like they could get really out of control, also consider taking the car keys (I told you you may not like it!)

- A dear friend of mine is maried to a lovely bipolar guy. He is a musician who has a long history of substance abuse as well as his bipolar. My friend manages their money by giving him a monthly allowance. He has an ATM card to acces this account at all times, but if he goes off his meds or seems to be geeting hyper, she cuts off all other access to their finances. This way he always has some autonomy and dignity but can't get them into financial trouble.

- Some advise cutting up cards but this can be a problem. For example, a non-bipolar spouse will still need to pay bills and buy groceries. Finding a way to divide finances works better.

- Watch both email and snail mail very carefully as at the moment the credit card companies are constantly sending out credit card applications and those seductive little checks.

- If you are lucky enough to have any kind of portfolio, you may need to confide in your investment advisor or broker. Although they are bound to carry out the client's instructions, a heads up can encourage them to insist on written instructions and a face to face meeting. You may even be able to agree that they will notify a spouse, doctor or other appropriate person if any unusual transactions are requested.

- In extreme cases it may be necessary to arrange for a power of attorney.

Bipolar treatment contracts

The folks at Real Mental Health provide excellent information about bipolar treatment contracts and a free downloadable sample contract.

The morning after

When somebody finishes a manic episode marked by bipolar excessive spending, their normal reasoning may return, but because of the bipolar roller coaster, this return to rationality is often marred by serious postmanic depression. In other words, just as our mind has cleared enough for the consequences of our bipolar spending sprees to sink in, we get hit with the double whammy of severe depression.

We are at our lowest ebb, but must face up to the shame, embarrassment, and economic consequences of our bipolar excessive spending. I have noticed that what little writing there is about this experience (good examples are Pattty Duke and Kay Redfield Jamison), tends to be witty and amusing. It is as if the only weapon we have left to help us cope is this wry self-deprecating humour. And of course some of our crazy manic purchases ARE funny - who could forget Jamison's purchase of 12 snake bite kits? Or her buying 20 ill-assorted books by the publisher Penguin so the "penguins could form a colony"?

It is funny and tragic all at the same time. However, we do need PRACTICAL TOOLS to help us cope. Don't let bankruptcy become another bipolar symptom. You CAN overcome bipolar excessive spending:

Download our FREE Special Report "The Bipolar Toolkit". No password or registration required. We don't even ask for your email address :)

Download now: The Bipolar Toolkit: Taking Charge of Your Own Recovery.

Quotes on bipolar spending sprees

Interestingly however, there are plenty of illustrative quotations, going back a couple of hundred years . . .

I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - GEORGE BEST (1946-2005)

When I am high I couldn't worry about money if I tried. So I don't. The money will come from from somewhere; I am entitled; God will provide. Credit cards are disastrous, personal checks worse. Unfortunately, for manics anyway, mania is a natural extension of the economy. - KAY REDFIELD JAMISON (1946- )

Weekly $25,000 shopping binges at Barney's and "high end" boutiques for clothes I barely wore were the norm. So were lavish meals with friends where I picked up $1000 tabs. These high-priced activities were within my limits because I was extremely successful financially, a testament to my manic behavior, not to mention my involvement in illegal activities. - ANDY BEHRMAN (Author of Electroboy)

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." Charles Dickens

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." Charles Dickens

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