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A woman struggling with bi-polar disorder has opened up about being nearly $130,000 in debt, because the illness causes her to buy things impulsively.
54-year-old Lynn Hodges has been suffering from bi-polar disorder since she was diagnosed in 2004, and on top of all the other heartbreaking symptoms, she’s now plagued by unbelievable debt.
“Before I got ill, I was a high-flier,” she told The Daily Mail. “I owned a presentation business that worked with companies like Christie’s and made more than £100,000 a year. I had a house in London and one in Kent and didn’t owe money to anyone.”
Bi-polar disorder, characterized by severe periods of mania and depression, has caused Hodges to go through extreme episodes of spending.
“First, I started piling electrical things like the TV remote into black bags and then I’d disappear all day — my sister thought I was working — but I was actually spending thousands of pounds shopping,” she said.
During one particular manic episode, Hodges allegedly bought more than $35,000 worth of diamonds and other luxury goods in one day, only to flush the jewelry down the toilet once the severe depression kicked in.
“I spent £25,000 in one day on diamonds, and a campervan and Apple computers for my children because I had this idea that I was going to drive them around Europe and home-school them,” she recalled. “I was losing my mind. I bought diamond rings and watches because I wanted to feel like a diamond.”
Despite the manic spending, none of Hodges banks contacted her about the unusual activity, so she really had no idea what was going on.
On top of her extreme credit card debt, Hodges has also been hospitalized three times, for six weeks at a time, forcing her to quit working entirely.
Because of the manic spending associated with bi-polar disorder, mental health professionals are hoping that a system can be set up within the next decade that allows individuals to inform their credit card companies of their diagnoses to stop them from going into debt.
