Materialism and Mental Health

Prosperity and Financial Success vs Personal and Social Wellbeing

Dec 1, 2008

Money can't buy love, as the song says. Worse, the evidence seems to be clear that people driven by possessions and appearances are more likely to suffer from depression.

That's the conclusion of Jane Plant and Janet Stephenson in their book Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression (London: Piatkus Books, 2008).

Commenting on "the nightmare of the American dream", Plant and Stephenson observe that high achievers in particular can become depressed in their search for money and fame, as they are "still driven by their childhood experiences to show how successful they are". Anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorders can also be linked to "an inner sense of worthlessness and impotence", expressed in the pursuit of "things" and status.

Australian economists Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss (Affluenza. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2005) cite similar findings from the work of psychologist Tim Kasser. "People who are highly focused on materialistic values have lower personal wellbeing and psychological health than those who believe that materialistic pursuits are relatively unimportant". Richard Layard, who argues that additional income itself is addictive, has found that "more money increases happiness less as people become richer". (Layard's research on well-being is introduced in the Suite 101 article The Pursuit of Happiness).

Depression, Anxiety and Society

How is it that people have been caught up in materialism to the point of becoming sick? In the view of Hamilton and Denniss, it is "hard to avoid the conclusion that the epidemic of psychological disorders is, at least in part, the price we are paying for decades of economic reform, the ceaseless promotion of market values, and the associated erosion of traditional supports in family and community". Plant and Stephenson observe that materialistic people in poor mental health tend to underestimate the importance of community.

Avoiding the slide into anxiety or depression may be made harder for the vulnerable by a society that tends to blame the individual for social ills. Hamilton and Denniss warn against the "medicalisation" of the human condition, with emotions routinely rebranded as pharmaceutically treatable "disorders". Not only does this process increase the profit of drug companies, but it takes the focus off the argument for social change.

Breaking the Cycle: Values and Mental Health

If the drive for money, possessions and status is associated with reduced psychological wellbeing, strategies for improvement could include efforts to disconnect, to some extent, from materialistic thinking. Among many other suggestions (including accessing good medical advice), Plant and Stephenson suggest that those who are afflicted with poor mental health consider spending money on experiences rather than on things.

Clive and Denniss are advocates of "conscious consumption", being wary of marketing and tuning into one's particular needs when making purchases. The problem, they say, "is not consumption itself; the problem is our attachment to consumption, the way we invest our goals and our sense of self in the things we buy and own".

Issues of mental health are complex and multifaceted, but research on links between wellbeing and social values may turn out to be an important part of the debate.

The copyright of the article Materialism and Mental Health in Mind/Body Fitness is owned by Brenda Ann Burke. Permission to republish Materialism and Mental Health in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.