Hypervigilance and Poverty

Survival instinct is a fundamental part of the human condition. It was used from hunter-gather times to flee or fight threats, feed families, and ensure that the human race continues to exist. Hyper-vigilance supports surviving threats in the short term but has an invisible layer impacting behaviour, emotions and decision making. The long term drip-feed of the brain chemicals cortisol and dopamine can push an individual into negative behavioural loops that can be challenging to escape.

In its extreme modern poverty can force people to choose between eating and paying rent. Adding in the consumer standard that society and media promote “responsible” budgeting decisions can be wishful thinking when someone has no certainty of income and what financial demands will arise tomorrow, next week or next month. States of hyper-vigilance are long term for individuals within communities of systemic poverty.

Throwing people into survival mode, poverty creates a potentially permanent hyper-vigilant state that will manifest as anxiety and depression, with cortisol dripping into the system it inflames the blood cells and reduces the immune system.

The quick and easy relief to cortisol is dopamine. Studies have shown the high levels of this chemical are released when eating processed sugars, alcohol or drug consumption, social media use, and even coercive and abusive validation from others. Dopamine is the chemical that causes addictive behaviours. Recognising these behaviours are fundamental in meeting a person in a conversation around budgeting and how it differs from self-worth.

Living in states of hypervigilance “doing the math” around spending has the potential of feeding the negative story and promoting the guilt that often comes with historic reaction to living in poverty.

Exploring a budget must be a conversation, not an exercise. Numbers have a habit of scaring or exciting people. Helping an individual articulate their story of needs opens the door to barriers and opportunity for change.

Exploration examples

Asking “How often do you eat?” and “Where do you buy food?” can reveal.

• If a diet is impacting emotion/behaviour and well being.

• Level of financial sacrifice being made for other things.

• Individual ability to identify and structure necessity.

Asking “What to is the primary use for your phone and who do you call?” can reveal

• Level of personal connections and support in life.

• Social media use.

• Level of digital skills.

Asking “What is the primary use for your car? Do you help anyone else with getting around?” can reveal.

• Wider employment seeking activities?

• Personal Benevolence and potential “petrol money”.

• Caring responsibilities.

• Hire purchase/Maintenance expenditure.

Above examples will inevitably reach a figure of expenditure but not before the underlying reasons, and the person is recognised first. Promoting an inclusive conversation can be a gateway to finding budgeting alternatives that truly sit with individuals to take on areas of responsibility one step at a time.

Identifying that extended hyper-vigilance causes entrenched spending behaviours that are difficult to put down provides the compassion to recognise that poverty is not the absence of wealth. It is the absence of dignity.