The Psychological Consequences of Material Deprivation

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Clinical Psychologist/Psychotherapist

In this article, I want to focus on our relationship with materialism and money in the physical dimension (umwelt). The physical dimension generally encompasses the world we live in, our bodies, objects, geography, our health, and our relationship with our mortality.

Existential therapist Emmy Van Deurzen states that the way we exist in the world at any given moment can be positioned on the general map of human existence. According to this, the way we exist in the world occurs in four different dimensions. These are: the physical, social, personal, and spiritual dimensions. These areas of existence can overlap and intersect. According to Deurzen, there are certain difficulties we encounter throughout our lives in all of these dimensions. These difficulties are insoluble and cause anxiety, but engaging with them provides the intention and determination needed to overcome them.

The area I want to focus on in this article is our relationship with materiality and money in the physical dimension (umwelt). The physical dimension generally encompasses the world we live in, our bodies, objects, geography, our state of health, and our relationship with our mortality. The struggle here lies between asserting dominance over the laws of nature and accepting them. When we look at our relationship with money as an element of the physical dimension, we are also looking at one of our existential issues. Being materially wealthy seems to make our physical survival more certain, while material poverty can pose a very close threat to our security. The tension between our desire for security and the possibility of insecurity is another powerful element that determines our struggle in the physical dimension (Deurzen and Baker, 2017). Money undoubtedly has a side that is closely related to feeling secure. We need to have some money to continue to survive. The existence of a dimension of existential security elevates money, which is a physical entity, to a vital place.

A person’s attitude towards material possessions or wealth, how they deal with it in life, and their relationship with money constitute an important dynamic that needs to be addressed in the physical dimension of their existence. Is their relationship with money progressing on a plane of deprivation, is it experienced with abundance and prosperity, or is there a sense of hunger even in abundance? Growing up without the material power necessary to meet basic needs and experiencing deprivation in this area can, as we know, cause damage that is difficult to repair. Experiencing deprivation severely at a young age can lead to fundamental narcissistic damage. In this case, materialism takes centre stage in life as a very fundamental issue.

When any of the four dimensions of existence comes to the fore to this extent, it leads to a decline in the other dimensions, to a lack of experience. Experiencing money as a form of hunger, the inability to obtain it and, consequently, being deprived of certain things through money may also be closely related to the meaning attributed to money. Money is an instrument of superiority and power in the capitalist system.

The functioning of today’s global economic system is based on the dominance of the haves over the have-nots, and the cracks that appear stem precisely from the damage caused by this imbalance between having and not having. Physical deprivation can bring with it anger and envy towards those who have, while abundance can bring with it a domineering attitude towards those who do not have.

If we are talking about money as a form of hunger, that is, physical deprivation, then we must also look at the relationship between humans and food, and satiety. The body can express what cannot be expressed in any other way. By overeating or starving, or doing both, or by bingeing, vomiting and/or emptying the stomach with medication, the individual tries their best to communicate and connect in the world. From an existential perspective, the psychological and the physical are inseparable – psychological drives and bodily actions overlap and are inextricably linked (Deurzen and Baker, 2017).

Proceeding from this, we can attempt to understand what kind of hunger the expression ‘eating money’ corresponds to. Just as there is meaning in eating when one is full, there is meaning in eating money and in experiencing a hunger for money despite having it. There is also meaning in valuing money to the point of worship… Considering that each has a psychological basis, it should be borne in mind that the relationship established with money may also be related to anxiety, unmanageable insecurity, and the search for meaning.

Another topic that needs to be considered is what void is filled by possessing money. “Existential emptiness is a widespread phenomenon of the twentieth century. This is understandable,” says Viktor E. Frankl, continuing: In this latest period of development, where the traditions that guide human behaviour are rapidly diminishing, man has faced yet another loss. No instinct tells him what to do. No tradition tells him what he should do; sometimes he does not even know what he desires. Instead, they either desire what other people do (conformism) or do what other people want them to do (totalitarianism) (Frankl, 2013). Thus, we can say that the desire for money is both a desire that people see in others and conform to, and it goes hand in hand with a feeling of emptiness experienced in an existential sense. The existential void experienced alongside meaninglessness is sometimes attempted to be balanced with the “desire for money”. Money is stuffed into a hole to fill it, just like a stomach is filled with food. If food is considered something that is digested and, when the void is not filled with meaning, renews itself, then that hunger, that great void, will always remain empty.

When we look at how the hunger for money is experienced, we are also likely to encounter the concept of anxiety. Indeed, where there is a feeling of deprivation, anxiety is inevitable. One way to alleviate the anxiety created by the feeling of deprivation, experienced independently of physical deprivation, is to seek to satisfy that deprivation. In the case of hunger for money, this can manifest as a desire to earn a lot of money and structure one’s life accordingly, or it can be seen as avoiding anxiety by ignoring it and establishing one’s relationship with money entirely through others, becoming dependent on others in matters of money.

Food is seen as a form of relief or consolation during stressful times. Many clients equate food with the love or peace they were deprived of as children. Existentially, these clients often use food to soothe feelings of helplessness, loneliness, and uncertainty in their lives (Deurzen and Baker, 2017). Similar conclusions may be drawn for someone who craves money despite having it. Earning money as a way to cope with certain emotions is understandable in terms of providing physical security and comfort. Continuing to crave money despite earning a lot may be the result of certain experiences or obsessions from a time in the past, perhaps during childhood. In this case, understanding and resolving one’s relationship with money is related to understanding the physical dimension of our existence, and as this is understood, space is created for issues in other dimensions. It is possible for humans, who are multidimensional beings, to feel complete and whole by experiencing every layer of existence.

Sources

Deurzen, E. V., Arnold, Baker, C. 2017. Existential Perspectives on Human Issues. (F. J. İçöz Trans. Ed.). Istanbul: Aletheia Kitap. (Original work dated 2005.)

Frankl, V. E., 2013. Man’s Search for Meaning. (Translated by Selçuk Budak). Istanbul: Okuyanus Publications. (Original work published in 1946.)