Our Mission
My Brain Bankers is on a mission to
empower individuals with Bipolar Disorder
to reduce impulsive spending when manic.
We combine smartphone data, AI models and behavioural science
to automatically detect mania and deploy personalised nudges,
positive friction and mental well-being exercises
to help you successfully surf the urge to impulsively spend
BEFORE you hit the ‘buy’ button.
The My Brain Bankers Support Team are here
to give advice and practical suggestions on how to:
- successfully surf your impulses
- minimise impulsive spending
- avoid damaging debt and bankruptcy
In the future, we will also help people with ADHD, Borderline Personality Disorder, Dementia, Brain injury and Addictions reduce impulsive spending.
37.5 million
...people living with Bipolar globally
over 87%
...report impulsive spending when unwell
1 in 4
...people with Bipolar will be in problem debt at some point in life
262 million
...people living with Bipolar, ADHD and Borderline Personality Disorder globally
93%
...of people with mental health conditions spend more when unwell
72%
...of social media users have impulsively spent after seeing a discount advertised to them online
Our friends around the world
tell us why
My Brain Bankers matters...
Simon Kitchen
- CEO Bipolar UK
We know from our community that impulsive spending is a serious challenge for many people living with bipolar.
During episodes of mania or hypomania, the urge to spend can be overwhelming, and the ease of online shopping can make it hard to resist.
Many people find themselves facing financial difficulties and debt as a result.
Dr Andrea Vassilev
- Clinical Psychologist California
- Living with Bipolar
- Award-winning advocate
Impulsive spending is a pervasive problem in bipolar.
One-click, online shopping makes it easy to spend without thinking, and once the money is gone, regret (and debt) take a toll of their own.
A tool that empowers people to manage impulsive spending would make a real difference.
Victoria Maxwell
- Advisor British Colombia Mental Health Services, Canada
- Living with Bipolar
- Speaker, perormer & playwright
Impulsive spending can wreak havoc in the lives of those of us with bipolar disorder, now more than ever.
Having an app like My Brain Bankers could help millions of people with Bipolar - like me - to more easily manage this incredibly detrimental aspect of the condition.
I know it could positively shift my spending behavior.
Leah Milner
- Daily Mail Consumer Journalist, UK
- Living with Bipolar
Frictionless payments and an increasingly cashless society has made it all too easy for consumers to make impulse purchases.
This can be a problem for anyone, but for those of us living with Bipolar it is a serious threat to our financial and mental health.
An app like MyBrainBakers that helps reduce impulse spending is likely to make a huge difference to many people around the world - whatever their situation.
The UK Parliament agrees
As reported in the recent Parliamentary Briefing Document:
Consumer Debt and Mental Health
Some illnesses (such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) present additional challenges, as impulsive behaviour can increase risks of gambling and compulsive spending. (p.8)
Technological advancements (such as contactless payments) can make it easier for people to spend money and/or access credit. This can increase risks for people who compulsively spend due to a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder. (p.17)
UK Parliament POSTnote 732 (Lally, C., Oct 2024, p.176)
Martin Lewis' Money and
Mental Health Policy Institute tells us...
...in written evidence submitted to UK Parliamentary Committee (Holkar, M., 2016):
Impulsive spending is so common among people with bipolar disorder that it forms part of the diagnostic criteria for the condition.
One individual reported:
"Anything I saw that was pink I bought it. I then gave what little money or credit I had left to a start up company I had never seen before because their logo was pink.
I don't even like pink.
Then after coming down a week later I had literally no money left."
Watch our CEO Tom's
contribution to
BBC Panorama: Maxed Out
- the credit card trap (2026)
[from 08:20 to 11:35 - you may need a BBC account to access]
Press Coverage
MyBrainBankers featured in
The Banker
Impulse Spending and Bipolar Disorder: Why Banks Should Care
Read this article by our CFO Larisa in The Banker - the authoritative source of global financial analysis and data-driven intelligence.
July
3rd 2025
Watch us working with the University of Southampton's FutureWorlds Bootcamp Accelerator Programme 2025...
Watch the start of our journey in 2024...
Connect with us:
E-mail: connect@mybrainbankers.com
Address:
15 Rockstone Place, Southampton, SO15 2EP, Hampshire, United Kingdom
All ideas, characters and concepts associated with My Brain Bankers are protected under Creative Commons licences:
CC - BY - NC - ND
And by Copyright 2025: All Rights Reserved
