Fear of spending money: Is it OCD, OCPD, or Chrometophobia? (2024)

There’s no doubt about it: our personal finances are extremely important aspects of our lives. It’s reasonable—end extremely common—to feel heightened anxiety or worry about money, especially because we depend on it for almost everything.

That being said, concerns about money can become overwhelming for people, even when there’s no real reason to be worried about their financial status. While this may be a relatable situation for many of us, it’s very important to recognize the signs of potential mental health concerns related to your relationship with money—with help from the right people, it’s possible to gain a healthier relationship with your finances and stop living in fear.

I’ve personally worked with many people who suffered from extreme fears about their finances, and I can assure you that there’s hope for you to feel better. Even if it feels as if your extreme financial worry is impossible to change, please know that many others have been in your same situation and learned the skills they needed to get better. Let’s learn more about what may be going on in your life.

Fear of spending money and OCD

A person who struggles with “Just Right” (Perfectionism) OCD or Scrupulosity OCD may experience a persistent fear of spending money. Spending money for this person may bring fears that they are a bad person, irresponsible with their money, or that they will spend money and not have enough for something else. This person could become obsessed with counting money, double checking accounts, and seeking reassurance about their financial state from friends and loved ones. This fear, like many other OCD fears, can become debilitating and significantly impact a person’s quality of life.

Fear of spending money or excessive frugality is sometimes known as Chrometophobia, a Specific Phobia related to money. Fears about spending money may also be involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A person with OCD focused on a fear of spending money will have unwanted intrusive thoughts, urges, or worries about spending money and any outcomes they may associate with it. They will feel the need to engage in compulsions (repetitive behaviors or mental acts) to eliminate their anxiety around spending money or prevent financial stress in general.

It is important to note that OCD with a focus on spending money is different from the financial impacts some people with OCD experience as a result of their compulsions. Some people with OCD spend excessive amounts in order to engage in their compulsions (e.g., buying excess toilet paper or bars of soap because of contamination fears). An individual experiencing these financial impacts of OCD might have concern about their financial difficulties, but this is different from an OCD sufferer whose obsessions, fears, and compulsions are focused on a fear of spending money.

Another important distinction is the difference between a fear of spending money in OCD and excessive frugality in OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder). Many people with OCPD view money as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes and insist upon extremely frugal spending habits for themselves and others. However, OCPD is very different from OCD. OCPD is not characterized by obsessions or compulsions. Rather, it’s a personality disorder characterized by a maladaptive pattern of rigidity, excessive perfectionism, and control that is stable, persistent, and enduring.

Let’s look at an example to better understand people’s experiences with these fears:

Ryan has struggled with OCD since he was a little boy. When he was younger, he would lie in bed at night and worry about his parents dying, compulsively praying and checking on them every day. As he grew, his OCD themes changed. In high school he struggled with Harm OCD and would need to engage in repetitive behaviors to prevent others from dying or to keep himself from hurting someone.

In adulthood, Ryan’s most recent fear is that he will run out of money. Ryan works as an electrical engineer for a prominent firm in the city and makes a secure living. He has more than enough money to pay bills, afford his rent, keep a savings account, and has plenty left over for his own discretionary spending.

Despite the financial security of his career and lifestyle, Ryan has become so afraid of running out of money that he has developed persistent fears about spending money. He will sit at his dining room table and look over the amount he needs to pay, check his bank account, pay the bill online, and then will go back and forth between his bank account and the utility account. If he doesn’t see the balance move on the bill, he will often call the provider to seek reassurance that the bill has been paid. He has been told over and over that it often takes 24 hours for it to post to his account, but his fears and uncertainties persist each time he has to pay a bill.

Ryan also has intrusive thoughts and worries that there will be a catastrophe with his parents that he will need to cover financially. He seeks reassurance from his parents, asking them if their life insurance is up to date and if they have recently been to the doctor for a checkup on their health status. Ryan has started to limit the amount he spends on groceries, even restricting his diet in an effort to save money.

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Common obsessions experienced by people with a fear of spending money in OCD include

  • What if I run out of money?
  • If I buy this, I won’t have enough money for something I need later
  • I should not spend money on food when people are starving
  • I can’t buy clothes, because homeless people don’t have clothes to keep them warm
  • Someone could hack into my account and steal my money
  • I may lose my job and not have money
  • I don’t have enough money in my savings account
  • What if I get sick and rack up hospital bills?

Common triggers

People with OCD focused on a fear of spending money may be triggered by any situations involving money or finances. A person with OCD who has this fear may go to great lengths to avoid these triggers.

Triggers for people with a fear of spending money include:

  • Looking at their bank account online
  • Receiving bills in the mail
  • Holidays with gift-giving traditions
  • Loss of work
  • Workplace stress
  • Medical concerns
  • Seeing other people who are financially struggling
  • Hearing, reading, or seeing stories about economic struggles
  • Intrusive thoughts about being a bad person if money is spent on something unnecessary
  • Fear of being robbed of money

How can I tell if I’m experiencing OCD, anxiety, stress, OCPD, or Chrometophobia?

To get a better sense of whether you’re struggling with OCD, you can ask yourself some questions that relate to the diagnostic criteria for OCD:

How to tell if you may be struggling with OCD:

  • Are you experiencing repeated, unwanted, intrusive thoughts, fears, or urges about spending money?
  • How persistent are the thoughts and fears around the topic of fear of spending money? Are the thoughts about this fear distressing or disturbing?
  • Are you trying to ignore the thoughts? Do you try to push the thoughts away?
  • Do you perform behaviors, mentally or physically, to reduce those thoughts or fears or prevent your fear from happening, such as seeking reassurance, avoidance, checking, or counting?
  • Do these thoughts and behaviors take up a significant amount of time?
  • Does this worry or behavior interfere with or impair other important areas of your life?

If the answer to some or all of these questions is yes, you may be suffering from OCD. Having an assessment with a trained OCD specialist can confirm whether you are experiencing OCD and could benefit from evidence-based treatment.

Common compulsions

When people with OCD involving a fear of spending money experience intrusive thoughts, images, feelings, or urges that cause distress, they may engage in compulsions for relief from fear or anxiety, or to prevent a feared outcome. Compulsions are often excessive and can often become rigid and ritualistic.

  • Avoiding spending money on fun, leisure, or vacation activities
  • Money hoarding
  • Restricting usage of utilities/not using lights when needed/taking fewer showers
  • Restricting diet to reduce grocery bills
  • Avoiding opening bills
  • Calling companies to be sure that finances or bills are correct
  • Counting money/cash repetitively
  • Checking bank account over and over
  • Restricting spending on necessities
  • Avoiding looking at bank account

How to overcome fear of spending money

OCD with a focus on fear of spending money can be debilitating, but it is highly treatable. Doing exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy with a trained ERP therapist is the best course of treatment—it has been empirically validated by decades of clinical research, and has been found to be effective for the majority of patients with OCD.

Through ERP, people can break the cycle of OCD and find relief from their OCD symptoms. People who struggle with OCD involving the fear of spending money will work with their therapist to build an exposure hierarchy and begin working on one trigger at a time. Usually an ERP therapist will start with an exposure that is predicted to bring, working up to harder exposures as confidence is built. Over time, it is likely that one will develop more tolerance for anxiety and discomfort when exposed to their triggers and increasingly be able to enjoy a healthier relationship with their finances.

Examples of possible exposures done to treat OCD focused on a fear of spending money include:

  • Paying bills on time, rather than delaying or paying ahead of time
  • Only checking bank accounts every other day
  • Donating money to a homeless person or another worthy cause
  • Spending money on something frivolous or fun
  • Setting up automatic payment for bills
  • Taking an unpaid day off from work

Effective treatment is available

If you believe that your fear about spending money may be related to OCD or an anxiety disorder, please know that there’s hope for you to feel better—you don’t have to live dominated by fear and worry.

Here at NOCD, our therapists have experience and intensive training in treating OCD and anxiety disorders, and our treatment has been proven to bring real results. I encourage you to learn more about NOCD’s evidence-based, accessible approach to treating OCD and anxiety disorders—relief from your symptoms may be closer than you think.

Fear of spending money: Is it OCD, OCPD, or Chrometophobia? (2024)

FAQs

Fear of spending money: Is it OCD, OCPD, or Chrometophobia? ›

Fear of spending money or excessive frugality is sometimes known as Chrometophobia, a Specific Phobia related to money.

What is an example of OCD vs OCPD? ›

There are also emotional differences between patients with OCD and OCPD. For example, those with OCD are more prone to feeling anxious, especially when things aren't how they want them to be. People with OCPD are more susceptible to feelings of anger and rage instead.

What are 8 characteristics of OCPD? ›

OCPD traits include preoccupation and insistence on details, rules, lists, order and organisation; perfectionism that interferes with completing tasks; excessive doubt and exercising caution; excessive conscientiousness, as well as rigidity and stubbornness.

What is it called when you have a fear of spending money? ›

Chrometophobia is an irrational fear that can make it hard for you to spend money or pay your bills, even if you can afford to do so. Being too scared to spend money can affect your health, relationships, overall well-being, and daily life.

Does OCD cause you to spend money? ›

OCD can affect your personal finances. For some people with OCD, excessive frugality feels necessary, while others might spend a great deal of money as a result of their OCD. Frugality can also be a symptom of OCPD. If you think you have OCD or OCPD, psychotherapy can help you manage your symptoms and feel better.

Is OCPD on the autism spectrum? ›

In contrast to the limited evidence of association between OCPD and OCD severity or subtype, there was a strong overlap between OCPD and the co-occurrence of traits and diagnosis of ASD, to the extent that approximately half (54.2%) of those diagnosed with OCPD were also found to meet diagnostic criteria for ASD.

How do OCPD people act? ›

The main sign of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is a pervasive preoccupation (obsession) with order, perfectionism, control and specific ways of doing things. These behaviors make it difficult to complete tasks and cause issues with relationships. Symptoms of OCPD usually begin by early adulthood.

Why am I so scared of spending money? ›

Fears about spending money may also be involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A person with OCD focused on a fear of spending money will have unwanted intrusive thoughts, urges, or worries about spending money and any outcomes they may associate with it.

What mental illness causes overspending? ›

If you experience symptoms like mania or hypomania, you might spend more money or make impulsive financial decisions. You might have an addiction or dependency which makes you spend money.

What type of phobia is fear of money? ›

Chrometophobia is an extreme, irrational and overwhelming fear of money, specifically of spending money. Someone with this phobia may experience intense fear, anxiety or panic at the sight, smell or touch of physical money or at the thought of spending money.

What is high functioning OCD symptoms? ›

Those with high-functioning OCD tend to be perfectionists and strive for impeccable performance in their daily tasks. These people are often very meticulous in their work, but this perfectionism can also lead to excessive time spent on activities and difficulty making decisions.

What is the cause of chrometophobia? ›

Causes of Chrometophobia

“While there is no known singular cause for chrometophobia, real experiences around a significant loss of money with related hardships and trauma may be related,” said Peters. “Some people may even have experienced food or housing insecurity during childhood, or in their family history.

What are the three main symptoms of OCD? ›

However, people with OCD generally:
  • Can't control their obsessions or compulsions, even when they know they're excessive.
  • Spend more than 1 hour a day on their obsessions or compulsions.
  • Don't get pleasure from their compulsions but may feel temporary relief from their anxiety.

Which statement describes a key difference between OCPD and OCD? ›

The main difference between these two disorders is the motivation behind them. OCD is driven by anxiety, while OCPD is driven by a desire for perfection.

What is the difference between OCD and OCPD insight? ›

Whilst people with OCD usually have sufficient insight that OCD is causing their behaviour, and accept they need to change, people with OCPD usually have little, if any, insight into their behaviours, rituals and thinking needing to change.

Can a person have both OCD and OCPD? ›

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that individuals with both OCD and OCPD have distinct clinical characteristics in terms of age at onset of initial OC symptoms, the types of obsessions and compulsions they experience, and psychiatric comorbidity.

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