The study, published in the American Journal of Financial Therapy, found that “nearly every single financial professional interviewed as part of the research reported medium to high levels of post-traumatic stress”, while 40 per cent reported “severe symptoms”.
A lot of these financial planners I worked with couldn’t sleep at night,” said Brad Klontz, an associate professor at Kansas State University and co-author of the study.
“They shoulder a great deal of the financial and emotional responsibility when they manage client assets.”
The study also found that many financial planners took greater risks during the height of the crisis, which in some cases exacerbated the symptoms of the disorder.
E. David Klonsky, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia said this greater risk appetite may have in fact been used in some cases as a form of self-medication.
“Risky behaviours like substance use, aggression and thrill-seeking can sometimes provide temporary relief [of PTSD symptoms],” he said in a statement accompanying the release of the study’s findings.
From memery PTSD needs a stressor. the person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which: the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others; and the persons response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror… Unless they seen their boss hang himself I think adjustment disorder or chronic adjustment disorder would have been the case but I’m not a psychiatrist to diagnose butbthe researcher, Brad Klontz, He is a financial psychologist!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P…
PTSD is a clinical condition, it is not being worried about something. We all worry about lots of things but that is not PTSD. Frankly I question the article that claims 93% of planners had this clinical condition, and in every case it was their concern for their clients.
Ask a war vet who has this condition and see if there is any comparison. Yes some would have suffered greatly but 93% – sorry, but I’ll call this out.
If this were true then most would never be able to stay in the business, as they would be nervous wreaks. Or is the suggestion that as markets have recovered then their PTSD has been cured,
And yes, qualified FP.
Maybe Aussie planners are far more altruistic than Americans 🙂
It would not be polite to say one was worried about one’s own situation, would it?
I suspect that a lot of planners in the US had horrible drops in income over the year or two following.
Do you honestly believe they were not concerned about their businesses?
The US is a very politically correct place and it would be unseemly to say one was worried about one’s own income when clients were suffering.
As with all studies there should be disclosure as to who funded it?
‘every single financial professional interviewed as part of the research reported medium to high levels of post-traumatic stress’ – does this mean that they only asked planners who’s client lost money.
So no planners had their clients in bonds et al. Not everyone lost money in 2008/9.
Caf – I assume that you are not a financial planner. This was a terrible time and I met a lot of planners that suffered from the stress of seeing clients in a state of despair – and not one was thinking of themselves. .
And what did their clients do – sleep soundly?
What was of more concern, their clients money of their business potentially going down the drain.
I suspect the later was the major concern, no matter how much they bleat on about worrying about their clients funds. IMO