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DAILY LIFE OR CAREER. SO SCORE ALL OF THAT. OF COURSE THE BIG MONEY IS ON POWERBALL RIGHT NOW. THERE IS A $1.4 BILLION JACKPOT UP FOR GRABS IN TONIGHT’S DRAWING, AND IT SEEMS LIKE MOST OF AMERICA HAS ALREADY BOUGHT TICKETS, EVEN THOUGH CHANCES ARE ALL BUT ONE, OR MAYBE EVEN NONE WILL ACTUALLY WIN. JOINING US RIGHT NOW IS DOCTOR ELLIS KELLGREN, A CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. IT’S GREAT TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THE ODDS OF WINNING THAT MASSIVE POWERBALL JACKPOT. YOU’VE GOT A BETTER CHANCE OF CATCHING A BLUE LOBSTER THAN YOU DO OF ACTUALLY WINNING THIS THING. IT’S ONE IN MORE THAN 292 MILLION, AND THOSE ARE NOT GOOD ODDS. SO WHY ARE WE STILL OUT THERE BUYING TICKETS? SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PSYCHOLOGY CONCEPTS THAT ARE WRAPPED UP IN BUYING BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS. SO FIRST OUR BRAINS CANNOT COMPREHEND NUMBERS AS LARGE AS 292 MILLION. SO WE HAVE A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING JUST HOW UNLIKELY IT IS THAT WE WILL WIN AGAINST THOSE ODDS. WE ALSO TEND TO HEAR ABOUT LOTTERY WINNERS AND NOT THE MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO BUY TICKETS BUT NEVER WIN. CREATING WHAT’S CALLED AN AVAILABILITY BIAS SO WE CAN IMAGINE OURSELVES IN THE STORIES THAT WE’VE HEARD, THOSE OF WINNERS BETTER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE OURSELVES IN THE UNTOLD STORIES. FINALLY, THE SUNK COST FALLACY COMES INTO PLAY. SO WHAT THIS MEANS IS THE MORE PEOPLE BUY LOTTERY TICKETS AND LOSE, THE MORE THEY FEEL THEY’VE INVESTED TIME AND MONEY IN THE LOTTERY, AND THE LESS LIKELY THEY ACTUALLY ARE TO STOP PLAYING. SO YOU’VE READ THE RESEARCH ABOUT LOTTERY WINNERS. DID MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? UNFORTUNATELY NOT IN THE LONG TERM. SO RESEARCH ON MONEY AND HAPPINESS SHOWS THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE FINANCIALLY STRUGGLING DO ACTUALLY BECOME HAPPIER WHEN THEY HAVE ENOUGH MONEY THAT IT’S NO LONGER A STRESSOR, BUT THE EFFECT OF MONEY ON HAPPINESS REACHES WHAT’S CALLED A POINT OF DIMINISHING RETURN, IN WHICH THE SAME INCREASE IN MONEY LEADS TO SMALLER AND SMALLER INCREASES IN HAPPINESS. SO PART OF THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT WEALTH CAN CREATE HEDONIC ADAPTATION, WHICH IS WHEN WE KIND OF RETURN TO OUR BASELINE HAPPINESS AFTER A MAJOR EVENT THAT WE ASSUMED WOULD HAVE MADE A HUGE LONG TERM DIFFERENCE IN OUR MOOD. SO LET’S JUST PLAY THIS OUT. IF SOMEONE OUT THERE DOES BEAT THE ODDS, SOMEONE WITHIN THE SOUND OF OUR VOICES BEATS THOSE IMPOSSIBLE ODDS AND WINS. TONIGHT’S JACKPOT. WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT THEY DO? FIRST? SO THE BIGGEST RISK TO MENTAL HEALTH FROM WINNING THE LOTTERY IS SPENDING THE MONEY TOO QUICKLY AND ENDING UP BROKE, OR IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE, AS WELL AS EXPERIENCING INCREASED RELATIONSHIP STRESS DUE TO FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING. SO HONESTLY, THE BEST MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE I CAN GIVE TO SOMEONE WHO WINS THE LOTTERY IS TO GET A FINANCIAL ADVISOR OR A LAWYER. TO HELP STEER THE WAY.