And there are genetic reasons for this.
Almost everyone who graduated from high school knows that there is the concept of "homeostasis" - the constancy of the internal environment of the body. And, at the same time, few people know about the concept of "allostasis" - the constancy of the internal environment through the interaction of the organism with the external environment.
Allostasis and allostatic overload. A little stress tones and energizes the body. The body systems adapt to the stress factor without overexertion. With allostatic overload, the body finds some balance, but it works with difficulty and gradually breaks down.
In fact, maintaining homeostasis requires support from the behavior of the body: where to live, what to drink and eat, whom to avoid, what to strive for. As the organism is genetically programmed to maintain the constancy of the internal environment, so its behavior should not violate homeostasis - otherwise the mechanisms of natural selection will work for this organism.
Allostasis on the example of eating behavior
The standard of living of a person reflects itself in the processes of life: if you are used to eating meat three times a day, the biochemistry of the body adapts to this way of supplying nutrients for work and will rebel with a sharp change in diet.
If meat is eaten twice a day, then the body will still be patient, but the transition to a vegetarian diet will cause a pronounced adaptive reaction - within 2-3 weeks the body will adapt to unusual food. Depending on the adaptive reserves, there will be either too good or too bad general condition. If you persist further, you can get to the exhaustion of the adaptation reaction and get sick against the background of well-being, or fall into a depressive state.
Usually, after 2-3 weeks, a rollback period begins - when it is already unbearable to eat unusually.
At this point, the return of old eating habits usually occurs, which prevents the depletion of adaptive mechanisms. It is easy to feel this moment when you return from a country with exotic cuisine to your homeland - it is good there, but at home, your own, dear.
The same situation occurs with a change in income: with a sharp decrease or increase in income, an adaptation reaction occurs, as a result, the body tries to return to the previous level of well-being.
A simple test for the level of allostatic load on money
Try your feelings when thinking about how much money you can safely spend. Write down how you feel at each level.
5 rubles
10 rubles
20 rubles
50 rubles
150 rubles
450 rubles
5 000 rubles
20 000 rubles
80 000 rubles
350 000 rubles
1 000 000 rubles
10 000 000 rubles
100 000 000 rubles
1 000 000 000 rubles
Initially, the amounts do not cause any tension, as the amount grows, a feeling of optimum appears - this I can easily afford. The higher the amount after the optimum, the more anxiety from the fact that so much money can be spent, to the point of horror (“I won’t earn so much in my life”).
At some point, the psyche simply ceases to perceive large numbers and for most people, spending 1 simply seems unrealistic and nothing can be felt about this - billions of expenditure parts of the budget are so easy to read.
Allostasis and income surge
The same situation happens when you set yourself new financial goals. It is difficult to increase incomes or raise money for a very expensive purchase at times, since the body will try to maintain allostasis.
At many money trainings, they set super goals to increase income: “Become a millionaire or die.” At the peak of adaptation, people sometimes get great results, in the wake of the results there are rave reviews about the training. However, after 2-3 weeks, there comes a period when the body says "enough" - a rollback occurs.
Often incomes sag in such a way that it would be better to remain in the old state - the body demands to return allostasis to its usual state and tries to prove to the consciousness that it does not need such drastic experiments.
At the same time, there is a more comfortable growth model – getting used to increasing disposable income gradually. It usually takes 30 to 6 months for homeostasis to catch up with a 12% change in income.
Knowing that allostasis has a certain optimal rate of adaptation, it makes sense to gradually, in small portions, let yourself get used to a better standard of living before increasing your disposable income: as part of your income, buy better food, slightly better clothes or shoes, buy expensive toilet paper. The more the body gets used to the new quality of life, the easier it is to find sources of growth for income.
What to do if incomes grew by more than 30% in a short time? Safe from the point of view of allostasis, the behavior lies in the exclusion of this extra money from everyday life. Someone will merge them in a casino, someone will put them on a long-term deposit in a bank, someone will drink / distribute them to the poor.
Allostasis and a sharp drop in income
When the usual level of income falls, the homeostasis system also requires the return of allostasis to its place. And this is noticeable by how quickly a job of a similar income level is found after losing the old one. About one or two months - and a healthy person closes the need for the standard of living to which he is accustomed.
This feature of the body is the basis for the recommendation on the level of the financial "airbag" for two months of optimal life.
More information about the concept of allostasis as an extension of homeostasis can be found in Robert Sapolsky's book The Psychology of Stress. Why don't zebras get stomach ulcers?
PS Experience of the author
My second specialization as a neurologist is the psychotherapy of phobic anxiety disorders. Many people do not make a distinction between a neurologist, a psychiatrist, and a psychotherapist. For 8 years of work in the polyclinic with about 18 patients a year, I had to form a systematic approach to the improvement of patients, not only within the framework of a neurological appointment.
The time to see one person is limited, therefore only the most working methods have survived, quickly and efficiently relieving anxiety and helping my patients to adapt to the stressful load. A systematic approach to health helps to recommend the best techniques for each case.
I invite you to get acquainted with the biopsychosocial approach in modern medicine at the open lessons of Money Intelligence as part of the men's training on March 26 and 28, 20.20 Moscow time - for an online broadcast in the Facebook group.
Work plan:
Day 1
• Structure of the training, biopsychosocial approach in medicine, health as a skill
• Proper setting of money goals - how to achieve and stay healthy
• Monitoring income and expenses - how not to fall into pettiness and savings to the detriment of the search for growth
• The system of financial activity - we suppress anxiety and create conditions for monetary growth
Day 2
• Budgeting and financial security
• Neurophysiology of money decisions
• Reframing unproductive money illusions - change beliefs to productive illusions
• Money calculator - set up filters of consciousness to search for money
• Monetary boundaries - external and internal, how to defend and expand your money boundaries
Join the group of open lessons on Facebook and participate in the broadcast on March 26 and 28 at 20.20 Moscow time
Source: habr.com