The Netflix series Squid Game offers a visceral exploration of how financial desperation can drive individuals to make unthinkable choices. The show’s characters provide compelling case studies for understanding economic trauma and its profound impact on mental health. For mental health professionals, analyzing these characters’ psychological presentations offers valuable insights into treating clients experiencing financial stress, debt-related anxiety, and the psychological aftermath of economic hardship.
Defining Economic Trauma Through Character Analysis
Economic trauma refers to the psychological wounds inflicted by financial instability, poverty, and economic uncertainty. The Squid Game characters exemplify how prolonged financial stress creates a state of hypervigilance, desperation, and moral flexibility that fundamentally alters decision-making processes.
Case Study: Seong Gi-hun (Player 456)
Presenting Concerns: Gi-hun enters the games as a 47-year-old divorced man with severe gambling addiction, overwhelming debt, and fractured family relationships. His financial desperation has led to stealing from his elderly mother, being estranged from his daughter, and facing violent debt collectors.
Clinical Assessment: Gi-hun presents with classic symptoms of economic trauma:
- Chronic anxiety and hypervigilance around money
- Impaired executive functioning (poor financial decisions)
- Shame and social isolation due to financial failures
- Substance use (implied gambling addiction serves similar function)
- Relationship deterioration due to financial stress
- Desperate thinking patterns (“this is my only option”)
Psychological Dynamics: Gi-hun’s willingness to risk his life for money demonstrates how economic trauma creates tunnel vision, where immediate financial relief becomes more important than long-term survival. His gambling addiction represents an attempt to solve financial problems through the same mechanism that created them – a common pattern in economic trauma where desperation overrides rational thinking.
Treatment Implications: Gi-hun would benefit from integrated financial therapy that addresses both practical money management and underlying trauma. His gambling addiction requires specialized treatment, but traditional addiction approaches must be modified to address the economic desperation driving his behavior.
Case Study: Cho Sang-woo (Player 218)
Presenting Concerns: Sang-woo, a Seoul National University graduate and former investment banker, faces embezzlement charges and financial ruin after making fraudulent investments. His fall from social prominence to financial desperation represents a specific type of economic trauma – status loss trauma.
Clinical Assessment: Sang-woo exhibits:
- Perfectionism and fear of failure stemming from high achievement expectations
- Shame about economic failure that contradicts his identity as successful
- Social isolation to hide financial problems
- Increasingly desperate and amoral decision-making
- Compartmentalization and emotional numbing as defense mechanisms
- Suicidal ideation related to loss of status and purpose
Psychological Dynamics: Sang-woo’s transformation from trusted ally to calculated killer illustrates how economic trauma can fundamentally alter personality and moral reasoning. His education and previous success make his financial failure particularly devastating to his self-concept, creating what psychologists call “relative deprivation trauma” – the psychological impact of losing previously held status and security.
Treatment Implications: Sang-woo’s case illustrates the importance of addressing identity issues in economic trauma treatment. His therapy would need to focus on reconstructing self-worth beyond financial achievement and processing the grief of lost identity and status.
The Neurobiological Impact: Ali Abdul’s Case
Case Study: Ali Abdul (Player 199)
Presenting Concerns: Ali, a Pakistani migrant worker, faces economic exploitation, unpaid wages, and the desperate need to support his family. His situation reflects the intersection of economic trauma with immigration stress and workplace exploitation.
Clinical Assessment: Ali demonstrates:
- Chronic stress from financial insecurity and family responsibility
- Cultural displacement compounding economic stress
- Hypervigilance about threats to his economic security
- Loyalty and trust patterns that make him vulnerable to exploitation
- Anxiety about family welfare and cultural expectations
- Limited social support due to immigration status
Neurobiological Considerations: Ali’s trusting nature, while culturally adaptive, becomes dangerous under extreme economic stress. Research shows that chronic financial stress reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex while increasing amygdala reactivity, explaining why economically traumatized individuals often make choices that seem irrational to observers.
Treatment Implications: Ali’s case highlights the need for culturally informed economic trauma treatment that addresses immigration stress, cultural values around family responsibility, and systemic factors contributing to economic vulnerability.
The Shame and Isolation Cycle: Kang Sae-byeok’s Presentation
Case Study: Kang Sae-byeok (Player 067)
Presenting Concerns: Sae-byeok, a North Korean defector, faces extreme poverty, family separation, and the financial burden of bringing her mother to South Korea while caring for her younger brother.
Clinical Assessment: Sae-byeok exhibits:
- Complex trauma from both political persecution and economic desperation
- Parentification (taking adult responsibility for her brother)
- Hypervigilance and mistrust of others
- Emotional numbing as survival mechanism
- Chronic shame about her circumstances
- Social isolation due to stigma and secrecy
Psychological Dynamics: Sae-byeok’s emotional walls and survival-focused thinking demonstrate how economic trauma often co-occurs with other forms of trauma, creating complex presentations that require specialized treatment approaches. Her fierce independence masks deep vulnerability and unmet attachment needs.
Treatment Implications: Sae-byeok’s case illustrates the importance of trauma-informed economic therapy that addresses multiple traumatic experiences simultaneously. Her treatment would need to focus on building safety and trust before addressing economic planning and family reunification goals.
Therapeutic Approaches for Economic Trauma
Integrated Treatment Model: The Case of Jang Deok-su (Player 101)
Presenting Concerns: Deok-su presents with gambling addiction, violent behavior, unpaid debts to criminal organizations, and a history of exploiting others for financial gain.
Clinical Assessment: Deok-su demonstrates:
- Antisocial patterns developed as adaptation to economic insecurity
- Underlying trauma masked by aggressive exterior
- Addiction issues complicating economic problems
- Lack of empathy as protective mechanism
- Violence as learned economic survival strategy
Treatment Approach: Deok-su’s case illustrates the complexity of treating economic trauma when it co-occurs with personality disorders and addiction. Treatment would require:
- Safety Planning: Addressing immediate threats from creditors and violent associates
- Addiction Treatment: Specialized intervention for gambling disorders
- Trauma Processing: Exploring childhood experiences that led to current patterns
- Moral Development: Working on empathy and ethical reasoning
- Economic Rehabilitation: Practical skills for legitimate income generation
Understanding Systemic Factors: Oh Il-nam’s Perspective
Case Study: Oh Il-nam (Player 001)
Presenting Concerns: While Il-nam’s true identity as the game creator changes his case conceptualization, his presentation as an elderly man with dementia facing economic vulnerability provides insights into age-related economic trauma.
Clinical Assessment (Before reveal): Il-nam appeared to demonstrate:
- Cognitive decline affecting financial decision-making
- Social isolation due to age and health status
- Vulnerability to financial exploitation
- Loss of autonomy and independence
- Meaning-making struggles in face of mortality
Systemic Considerations: Il-nam’s character (in both his disguised and revealed forms) highlights how economic systems can create vulnerability across different populations. His actual role as game creator represents the systemic perspective – how those with extreme wealth become disconnected from the human cost of economic inequality.
Treatment Implications: Work with elderly clients facing economic trauma requires attention to cognitive capacity, social support systems, and meaning-making in later life stages.
Family Impact: Han Mi-nyeo’s Presentation
Case Study: Han Mi-nyeo (Player 212)
Presenting Concerns: Mi-nyeo presents as a middle-aged woman with apparent mental health issues, financial desperation, and a history of manipulative relationships.
Clinical Assessment: Mi-nyeo exhibits:
- Possible personality disorder features (manipulative, unstable relationships)
- Economic desperation driving relationship choices
- Chronic feelings of abandonment and betrayal
- Survival strategies that alienate potential support systems
- Underlying vulnerability masked by aggressive presentation
Family Dynamics: Mi-nyeo’s behavior suggests a history of economic trauma affecting family relationships. Her manipulative strategies likely developed as childhood adaptations to economic insecurity and family dysfunction.
Treatment Implications: Mi-nyeo’s case demonstrates the importance of understanding how early economic trauma shapes personality development and relationship patterns. Treatment would need to address both current economic stressors and underlying attachment trauma.
The Therapeutic Relationship in Economic Trauma
Working with economically traumatized clients like the Squid Game characters requires therapists to understand how financial desperation affects the therapeutic relationship itself:
Trust and Power Dynamics
Characters like Ali demonstrate how economic vulnerability can create unhealthy power dynamics. In therapy, economically traumatized clients may:
- Be overly deferential to therapists due to perceived power differences
- Struggle with therapy costs even when sliding scale options exist
- Have difficulty advocating for their needs due to economic shame
- View therapy as luxury rather than necessity
Practical Considerations
Sang-woo’s case illustrates how economic trauma requires practical intervention alongside psychological treatment:
- Flexible scheduling for clients with unstable work situations
- Sliding scale fees and payment plans
- Connection to financial resources and legal assistance
- Understanding of how economic stress affects therapy engagement
Countertransference Issues
Working with characters like Deok-su challenges therapists’ feelings about poverty, violence, and moral behavior:
- Avoiding judgment about survival strategies that may seem immoral
- Understanding how economic desperation can drive seemingly antisocial behavior
- Maintaining empathy for clients whose choices may be difficult to understand
- Recognizing one’s own privilege and economic security
Prevention and Early Intervention
The Squid Game characters’ trajectories offer insights into prevention and early intervention for economic trauma:
Gi-hun’s Trajectory
Early intervention points might have included:
- Gambling addiction treatment before financial crisis
- Family therapy to address divorce-related financial stress
- Employment assistance and vocational rehabilitation
- Financial literacy and debt management education
Sang-woo’s Path
Prevention strategies could have involved:
- Stress management for high-pressure careers
- Ethics training in financial sectors
- Mental health support for perfectionism and achievement pressure
- Early intervention for financial crimes
Ali’s Vulnerability
Systemic interventions might include:
- Worker protection programs for immigrants
- Language and cultural support services
- Economic empowerment programs for vulnerable populations
- Policy changes addressing wage theft and exploitation
Long-term Recovery and Growth
The character of Gi-hun’s post-game journey illustrates both the possibilities and challenges of recovery from economic trauma:
Post-Traumatic Growth Potential
- Increased empathy and social consciousness
- Reevaluation of material values and priorities
- Motivation to help others facing similar struggles
- Development of resilience and coping skills
Ongoing Challenges
- Survivor guilt about financial success while others suffered
- Hypervigilance about financial security
- Difficulty trusting financial systems and advisors
- Ongoing trauma symptoms affecting daily functioning
Clinical Implications and Recommendations
Analyzing the Squid Game characters provides several key insights for treating economic trauma:
Assessment Considerations
- Comprehensive evaluation of financial stressors and their psychological impact
- Understanding of cultural and systemic factors contributing to economic vulnerability
- Assessment of co-occurring mental health conditions and trauma histories
- Evaluation of family and social support systems
Treatment Modifications
- Integration of practical financial assistance with psychological treatment
- Attention to power dynamics in the therapeutic relationship
- Flexibility in treatment approaches based on client’s economic circumstances
- Collaboration with financial advisors, legal aid, and social services
Systemic Awareness
- Understanding of how economic inequality contributes to mental health problems
- Advocacy for policy changes that address root causes of economic trauma
- Community-based approaches that address economic trauma at population level
- Training for mental health professionals on economic trauma dynamics
Conclusion
The characters in Squid Game provide powerful illustrations of how economic desperation can fundamentally alter human psychology and behavior. Their stories demonstrate that economic trauma is not simply about money – it’s about identity, relationships, moral reasoning, and fundamental human dignity.
For mental health professionals, understanding economic trauma through these character studies emphasizes the importance of addressing both practical and psychological aspects of financial stress. Treatment approaches must be flexible, culturally informed, and attentive to the systemic factors that create and maintain economic vulnerability.
The series ultimately reminds us that behind every financially desperate choice lies a human being struggling to survive and protect what matters most to them. This understanding should inform more effective, empathetic approaches to treating one of the most pervasive and understudied forms of trauma in our society.
By analyzing characters like Gi-hun, Sang-woo, Ali, and others, we gain insights into the complex interplay between economic circumstances and psychological well-being, helping us develop more effective interventions for clients facing similar struggles in the real world.