Overspending as a Narcotic of the Filipino Masses

Harvard Health Publishing

It's almost time for the New Year, right? However, there's the problem that so many Filipinos just refuse to do any financial New Year's resolutions. It's a continued series of broken New Year's resolutions year after year, such as not doing anything about one's financial and economic literacy. Then again, can Filipinos learn financial literacy when the school environment is too theoretical? As I observe the same cycle in the Philippines, from January to December, it has always been a financial mess for many Filipinos. The problem starts with mishandling money, such as how paychecks are often handled by people. 

There's always some joy in spending, whether we want to admit it or not

We can't deny that if we bought what we want (especially with one's own money), there's some feeling of satisfaction. For example, a person who stops begging from their parents and starts buying what they want, with their money, can feel good. A person may not have a luxurious life. It made me think that there's a certain degree of dopamine when someone is buying things with their own money, whether it is a need or a want. Just recently, I bought a new Xiaomi box after my old one broke. I bought a new one, and I feel happy that I could buy it without thinking about running away from creditors in January 2026. 

According to the Cleveland Clinic, this is what happens when one spends, not necessarily overspends:

Releases ‘happy hormones’ 

You’ve probably heard of “happy hormones” before. Dopamine, serotonin and endorphins are just a few of the chemicals our brain releases when we engage in behaviors like shopping.

This response is the reward center of our brain’s way of urging us to keep doing things it sees as necessary for our survival — and the survival of our species. The same chemical reaction happens when you eat a meal, kiss someone special or go dancing with friends.

“Some people think these hormones only get released when you actually purchase an item, but it begins well before that,” Dr. Albers explains. “It can start before you even leave the house because you’re delighting in all the possibilities. Your happy hormones surge through the whole journey.”

The brain needs dopamine, but like any vitamin or mineral, anything beneficial becomes bad when it's in excess (toxicity) or in scarcity. I can feel good about spending money on my wants. However, when I'm spending beyond my means, my mind is actually producing an unhealthy amount of dopamine. It becomes difficult to process, because there's too much to process! When there's too much dopamine to process all at once, it's like excess cholesterol (which is bad cholesterol), excess Vitamin A (which damages the liver), excess sugar (which forces the body to produce more insulin from the pancreas, or as said, "When something beneficial is overdosed, it becomes toxic. It's the dose that makes the toxin!" 

The cycle of overspending, like a drug addiction, is hard to break 

What I noticed is that bad financial habits work like narcotics. The English word narcotics comes from the Greek word narkotikos, which means to make numb. What do you expect from people who have the silly sentimentality of, "If life is bitter, just add sugar." I remember listening to talks by former drug addicts. Sadly, I have lost contact with the former drug addict I talked to back when I was in high school. It was year after year that he warned students not to get into drugs. I also review the opium wars when the British used opium to dull the minds of the Chinese. The reality is that drugs have a numbing sensation 

The cycle never ends because they always "feel high" whenever they get things like having the latest iPhone, even when they are already financially broke. They execute the same financial habits year after year, without learning anything. These people may not be literally taking drugs, but their spendthrift habit is like a drug. After all, there's this sense of "euphoria". 

It's because when the person has an all-time low, the only "alternative" a person may see is the all-time high. That may help explain why drug addiction is hard to break out of. The drug addiction cycle causes a dopamine surge followed by a dopamine crash. According to the Seaglass Recovery, this is a real problem among addicts:

What Drugs Release Dopamine In the Brain?

Research has shown that the most commonly abused drugs trigger the release of dopamine in the brain. Compared to activities that release dopamine naturally, however, addictive substances can trigger 10 times the amount of dopamine to flood the brain and body.

Addictive drugs that increase dopamine include:

• Alcohol
• Nicotine
• Opioids
• Heroin
• Cocaine
• Methamphetamine

Unable to make a distinction between natural and artificial triggers, the brain develops a positive association with drugs that affect dopamine. The same process that makes you long for a chocolate brownie or a mid-day jog is what leads to all-consuming drug cravings.

Does Dopamine Drive Addiction?

Each time a person abuses drugs or alcohol, the substance triggers the release of an intense amount of dopamine. The more drugs someone abuses, the more they force their brain to release the pleasure chemical.

Due to the overwhelming impact of drugs and alcohol on the reward center, the brain dedicates all of its dopamine receptors to satisfy a “high.” As a result, the brain lacks the ability to reinforce naturally rewarding activities with feelings of pleasure. This overstimulation is why a common sign of substance abuse is a lack of interest in activities that once brought pleasure.

Substance abuse disrupts the brain’s reward system and the resulting damages often affect every aspect of a person’s life. As the brain is rewired to prioritize drug abuse, the person loses the ability to complete daily tasks. Patterns of behavior shift focus from the person’s wants, needs, and aspirations to an all-encompassing need to get high. No longer able to experience pleasure without drugs, each moment is spent finding and taking drugs.

After reading my sources, it can be seen that when the brain becomes hooked on a dopamine surge (like drugs), the same consequences can also be true for overspending. It's pretty much an addiction to do activities like:

1. Trying to get rich quick through gambling, such as an addiction to the lottery ticket
2. Seeking the thrill of last-minute Christmas shopping when you had all November-early December
3. Demanding that noche buenas must be extravagant
   
4. Choosing the more exciting (but ultimately disastrous) path of gambling instead of investing
5. Investing in cryptocurrency instead of the stock market

One keeps losing at gambling, experiencing crypto crashes, getting chased by 5-6 Indian creditors, etc. However, there's always that "dopamine" surge, which becomes a vicious loop. Maybe, there's some excitement found in "December lipay-lipay and January likay-likay" where people are enjoying December while hiding when January comes. In the casino, there's always the thrill of thinking about the wins without thinking about the losses. At Christmas, there's always that "feel good" mentality when one sees the noche buena table is full of delicious (but high fattening) foods. They want to avoid the bitter so they go for the sweet immediately. 

It's a problem because instead of a stable rise in dopamine, it's a sudden rise in dopamine, which creates the vicious cycles of high and low. The cycle is dopamine oversurge, dopamine crash, and returning to the source of the dopamine oversurge. That's why overspending is hard to break, but you must break it anyway, as if it's a drug addiction.