Affluenza is a recent mental health phenomena that is supposed to occur among those whose wealth and privilege creates psychological flaws that have a negative effect on their ability to function normally. In one famous case, the defense managed to convince a judge to spare a teenager from prison after a deadly car accident based on affluenza making him unable to understand the consequences of his actions. However, affluenza can be countered through actions such as closer family bonding in order to encourage a sense of love that will keep a child from developing isolationist tendencies. Encouraging family members to participate in activities that allow them to develop empathy towards people of different backgrounds can also help combat the disorder. While not all mental health specialist agree that the condition exist, making sure a child of great wealth is well rounded and exposed to the wider world is still a worthy goal whether it will prevent affluenze or not.
See Kim Kamin, Affluenza and Its Cure, Wealth Management, November 16, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
