Won 3.1 billion won in online lotto… The story of a woman who quit her job to travel, buy a house, take over a beauty salon, etc., but ended up living an uneven life after her house burned down.
Do you think you can live a happy life if you win 3 billion won in the lottery? A story was shared that gives a glimpse into the real side of the thought that if only I won the lottery, I would be happier than I am now.
Lara Griffith, who lives in West Yorkshire, England, is currently 54 years old and lived a lucky life for a while after winning the lottery in her mid-30s. Was it the curse of the lottery? At that time, I couldn’t even imagine the absolute hell I would experience after winning the lottery. As he shared his uneven life after winning the lottery with the British media, his story is becoming a hot topic.
In October 2005, Lara won the online lottery and won 3.1 billion won. He was in his mid 30s. Lara and her husband Roger, who married in 1997, were working as a performing arts teacher and IT manager respectively when they won the lottery. The eldest daughter, Ruby, was a 22-month-old baby.
They were the first online lottery winners at the time and received an email saying they had won. At around 2:30 a.m., Roger called Lara upstairs, and she saw 3.1 billion won displayed on the computer screen. I couldn’t believe it and it felt like a joke. Later, during the day, Camelot, the operator of the British National Lotto, confirmed the winnings by phone, and the two people revealed their winnings.
Lara said about the situation at the time, “I think I had almost no common sense. I don’t even remember the conversation I had with Roger about how to manage our money. “I just remember being filled with great confusion and absurdity,” he recalled.
They started spending money right away. I quit my job. I traveled to Dubai, Florida, France, etc. and spent about 250 million won to acquire a beauty salon. They also moved into a large house that was a converted barn worth about 770 million won.
It seemed like they were envisioning a dream-like life, but their luck did not last long. In December 2010, a newly built luxury home began to burn down. A large fire broke out and the entire house was reduced to ashes for three days. I lost everything I had in the house. The fire was reported to have started in the laundry room, but despite the investigation, the exact cause was not determined. For the next eight months, the family lived between hotels and Lara’s mother’s house. Lara said, “Luckily no one was hurt, but my daughter Kitty is still suffering from PTSD from the fire.”
It was only in July 2011 that I was able to return home again. Afterwards, Lara’s misfortune continued. Meanwhile, her relationship with her husband worsened, and she divorced Roger a few months later. Lara described the next two years as ‘absolute hell’. I had to raise two daughters and go through the loss of divorce. When the divorce was finalized in December 2013, there was no money left.
Lara said, “I had to sell my house, I had to sell my business, I had to sell everything I owned. It was truly miserable. It was truly terrible. I also suffered from Crohn’s disease, so I only weighed about 38kg at the time. “But I tried not to go crazy for the children’s happiness,” he said. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive system and is considered an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system becomes excessively active and attacks the tissues of the digestive system, causing inflammation.
Lara had no choice but to rely financially on his mother for a year. Even now, the mother and her two daughters, Ruby (20 years old) and Kitty (17 years old) live together. Currently, Lara has retrained as a tattoo artist and runs a studio. Despite all the pain she has experienced since winning the lottery, Lara said, “I have had some really difficult moments, but I love my life now. “I plan to make money again somehow,” he said.
After a windfall, you lose everything… Is the ‘lotto curse’ real?
The phenomenon of losing everything after winning a lottery or a large amount of money is called the ‘Lottery Curse.’ It represents the misfortune and unhappiness that may occur to an individual or family due to a sudden increase in wealth. Although the claim that 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years of winning was presented at the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) symposium in 2001, it is not clear whether it is reliable evidence. There are certainly cases of people experiencing financial ruin or personal misfortune after winning the lottery, but it is difficult to generalize this.
However, many winners actually experience excessive spending, failure to manage their finances, deteriorating interpersonal relationships, and mental pressure, losing their assets or experiencing psychological difficulties. From a medical perspective, the lottery curse can be explained by mental stress and psychological pressure caused by sudden financial changes.
psychological stress and anxiety = Winning a large amount of money may cause a temporary sense of happiness, but the pressure of maintaining and managing new wealth can cause great anxiety. Physical health may also deteriorate due to an increase in stress hormones such as cortisol, which may lead to chronic stress and anxiety disorders.
depression and loss = Depression can occur when you experience regret and loss due to losing property or making wrong choices. In particular, there is a high risk of falling into a state of long-term depression as self-esteem declines after feeling like you have lost your direction in life or losing money.
Decision making and impulse control disorders = When a large amount of money arises, the range of decisions becomes wider, which can lead to psychological confusion and decision-making difficulties. As people become financially comfortable, the likelihood of making impulsive choices for consumption or investment increases, and as a result, the risk of developing impulse control disorders increases.
Gambling addiction and overspending =Sudden financial freedom is also likely to lead to gambling addiction, overspending, and other risky financial behaviors. In the case of gambling addiction, neurotransmitters related to the reward circuit, such as dopamine, are excessively activated, reinforcing addictive behavior.
Social isolation and worsening relationships = After you have a lot of money, your relationships with people around you may worsen. The burden of attention and demands from those around you, as well as distrust, can have a negative impact on relationships, which can sometimes lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Due to these factors, the lottery curse is considered a serious condition that goes beyond simple economic problems and can cause physical and mental health problems. This is why systematic support and management for financial and mental health is necessary when experiencing major financial changes.
In this way, poor financial management after winning can lead to the lottery curse, but there are also many people who think that winning the lottery is the beginning of happiness. Dr. Cameron Anderson, a psychologist at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Business, said, “People who win the lottery are happy at first, but soon their happiness returns to the level before winning.” This means that because you immediately adapt to the level, it is one of the reasons why money cannot buy happiness.
Source: kormedi.com
