We often think of money as a purely numerical concept – figures in a bank account, bills to pay, investments to track. But what if I told you that your financial life has a profound, physical impact on your body, specifically on your hormonal health? It’s true. The stress, worry, and anxiety associated with money don’t just live in your mind; they manifest within you, influencing a delicate balance of hormones that affect everything from your mood to your metabolism.
In my experience, having worked with people and money for decades, I’ve seen firsthand how the “human side of money” is often overlooked. We can have the best financial plans, but if we ignore our emotional and biological responses to money, those plans can easily unravel. Our bodies are incredibly interconnected systems, and the relationship between your brain, money, and hormones is a powerful one.
Let’s dive into some key hormones and how your money worries might be affecting them.
Cortisol: The Stress Architect
When you encounter stress, your body’s natural response is to release cortisol, often called the “stress hormone.” This is a primitive, automatic response designed to prepare you for immediate danger—think fight or flight (and freeze). Your heart rate quickens, blood pressure rises, muscles tense, and breathing speeds up. In a one-time stressful event, this is incredibly helpful, and your body soon returns to normal.
However, for many, money is a constant source of stress. Because money touches nearly every aspect of our lives, we might experience numerous small stress triggers throughout the day, each prompting a release of cortisol. Perhaps it’s checking your bank balance, a looming bill, or a conversation about finances. These repeated doses of cortisol often don’t allow your levels to drop back down before the next trigger hits, leading to chronically elevated cortisol.
A constant overload of cortisol can lead to a range of challenging symptoms, including difficulty relaxing, restlessness, fatigue, memory fog, weight gain around the abdomen, and hypervigilance – that feeling of constantly “waiting for the other shoe to drop”. This state of chronic stress creates a vicious cycle, as the expectation of worst-case scenarios further signals threat to your primitive brain, leading to even more cortisol production.
Serotonin: The Feel-Good Messenger
Serotonin is often referred to as our “feel-good hormone.” It plays a crucial role in emotional well-being, mood regulation, sleep, appetite, and overall quality of life. It gives us that sense that “all is well in the world”.
But here’s the catch: chronically high cortisol levels directly impact serotonin function and availability, often causing serotonin levels to drop significantly. When serotonin is low, we can experience significant dips in mood, disrupted sleep, increased anxiety, and even feelings of depression. This imbalance leaves us feeling far from “well in the world.”
Dopamine: The Reward Seeker
When serotonin levels are low, our bodies, in their innate wisdom to cope, might subconsciously seek out ways to feel better. This is where dopamine comes in. Dopamine is our “reward and pleasure hormone,” giving us feelings of euphoria, excitement, and motivation. It’s that natural high we feel when we achieve something or experience pleasure.
In an effort to get that dopamine boost, we might turn to various activities, and one very common one linked to money is shopping – often called “retail therapy”. Studies show that shopping, especially finding a good deal, strongly activates the brain’s reward centers, releasing dopamine. For a brief moment, we feel on top of the world.
However, the effects of dopamine don’t last long. Once the shopping spree ends, the dopamine boost fades, leaving us back with low serotonin and elevated cortisol. The hormone imbalance can worsen, especially when the credit card bill arrives, creating a “double whammy” of negative feelings. This can easily lead to a vicious cycle where you continually seek out that temporary dopamine high through spending, without ever addressing the underlying money stress or unhealthy relationship with money.
You’re trying to solve an emotional problem with a financial “solution” that doesn’t fit.
Bringing it All Together
Understanding how money affects your hormones is a powerful step towards true money wellness. It’s the reason why budgets don’t work. And it’s not just about saving or making more money; it’s about acknowledging the deep biological and emotional roots of your financial reality. When you become aware of these physiological responses, you gain the power to break unhealthy cycles and cultivate a more balanced relationship with money and, by extension, with your own body and well-being.
Tip: To get a healthy boost, when you need one- and one that doesn’t impact your finances, make a Happy list! This is a list with all kinds of things that make you happy, and make you feel good, without spending (much) money. These can be things like going for a walk, doing yoga, having a cuppa tea while reading your favourite book, having a bath, dancing to your favourite songs, turn off social media for the day, watch a funny movie, use aromatherapy or EFT, or journal about what you really need in that moment. So next time you feel the urge to do ‘retail therapy’, pause, go to your list and pick something from that instead.
Mariska Reinerink is a Holistic Money Wellness Coach and Business Coach, a Speaker, Workshop Facilitator and Writer and she works with women globally, 1-1, in groups, live and online. To find out more, go to www.yourmoneywellness.com and you can contact her at mariska@yourmoneywellness.com
