“Money dysmorphia is kind of like today’s version of keeping up with the Joneses,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma.
That’s from a March 13 story by Jessica Dickler on CNBC.com
A new term, “money dysmorphia,” aims to describe the distorted view of one’s finances that nearly one-third, or 29%, of Americans say they now experience, according to a recent report by Credit Karma, often from comparing their financial situation to others’ and feeling inadequate….
Okay, it’s easy to feel inadequate. Ask me how I know.
America is allegedly the richest country in the world, and probably the richest country in human history — I mean, in what other historical empire has nearly everyone had a credit card? We are so rich, we can spend money we don’t even have.
But according to Ms. Dickler’s article, only 14% of Americans consider themselves wealthy.
…and the bar is only getting increasingly out of reach.
And she doesn’t mean the Pagosa Bar, which some readers may have noticed was recently remodeled.
We have enough money to be reasonably happy, says Ms. Dickler, but we’re comparing ourselves on social media to folks who have even more money.
Almost daily, I compare myself to Elon Musk. Probably not a smart thing to do, but I can’t help it. And apparently, 29% of Americans have a similar problem. Most of them are younger than me — Millennials and Gen Z kids, many of whom in fact struggle to pay the rent. But they still buy a $10 Mocha Frappuccino every time they shop at City Market.
The main problem with these young people, the experts suggest, is social media. Which is the main problem with everything. But especially with ‘money dysmorphia’. According to a report from LendingClub, more than half of Americans earning more than $100,000 a year say they live paycheck to paycheck.
I could tell those people a thing or two about living paycheck to paycheck. But they probably don’t want to hear it.
I found the word ‘dysmorphia’ to be very interesting. I have a special affection for words that sound like they were made from Greek words. As it turns out, you can suffer from a wide range of ‘dysmorphia’ types. Maybe all at the same time.
Body dysmorphia is the exaggerated perception of flaws or deficits in our physical bodies.
Productivity dysmorphia is the exaggerated perception of being inefficient and lazy, often despite objective evidence of the opposite.
Happiness is the exaggerated perception of being less happy and experiencing less love and connection than other people.
Achievement dysmorphia — often called imposter syndrome — is the exaggerated perception of being inadequate and inferior relative to one’s peers, usually despite evidence to the contrary in the form of credentials, experiences, and successes.
And that’s just the tip of the dysmorphia iceberg. We can be dysmorphic about almost anything. Presidential candidates, for example.
In rather astonishing numbers, healthy and attractive Americans feel unlovable, high-achievers feel like imposters, productive people feel like slackers, people of strength and resourcefulness feel like victims, and millions see calamity and catastrophe waiting around every corner.
Delusion has run amuck.
Since at least the time of the Buddha, wise spiritual leaders have urged us to recognize a (potentially) liberating idea: we live in a state of delusion. But nowadays, even those spiritual leaders typically feel like failures, even if they are rich. They don’t feel rich, because they spend all day on social media.
Personally, I avoid social media, because so many of the posts mention Elon Musk, or Donald Trump, two people who actually have more money than I have. Or at least, more credit cards.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.