Two jackpot-winning tickets – one sold in Arizona and one in Missouri – will split an estimated jackpot of $587.5 million.

The winning numbers in last night’s drawing were: 5-16-22-23-29 PB: 6.

Ah, many of us may dream about what we would do if we won $1 Million (or $587.5 Million). We could pay down the mortgage. Buy the beach house we’ve been coveting at Kiawah Island. Upgrade to that 7 Series. Life would be sooooo much better and everyone would be soooo much happier.

….But as always, science splashes cold water on our cozy thoughts of instant wealth.

It’s what we call Sudden Wealth Syndrome. Yes, you may have recently seen this on The Daily Show with Jason Jones interviewing Stephen Goldbart and psychotherapist Joan DiFuria. Becoming suddenly wealthy can cause an individual stress. Its symptoms include: feeling isolated from former friends (Hey Man, can I borrow a few thousand bucks?), feelings of guilt over their good fortune, and an extreme fear of losing all their money. These are instincts from a time when resources were limited, scattered and inconsistent (and there were glaciers all over the Northern Hemisphere). Not a bad response to a tough environment. The problem is, that instinct has not kept pace with our society and world.

Research shows that many who win lotteries lose all of their sudden wealth within months or a few years of receiving the prize. Similar findings have also been found with entrepreneurs that experienced a big exit event (like a big IPO or sale of a company they started).

Here is the full list of symptoms folks often exhibit:

• Increased anxiety
• Intrusive and inappropriate thoughts about money
• Anxiety and depression cycles about the stock market volatility
• Sleep disorders
• Irritability
• Guilt about having money
• Identity confusion
• Strong fear of loss of control
• Paranoid thinking about being exploited
• Increased depression

What to Do if Sudden Wealth Syndrome Attacks?

1. Get Advisors: Not friends, not family and not some random people. Get paid help to create a game plan. Finding a CPA, attorney and tax expert are key team members. This will also be the team that helps you and your family create a will, set up charitable giving and plan for how money is shared with others (like children and extended family).

2. Moratorium: Lock down all your winnings for 3 months. This will give you time to come up with a plan rather than letting Nordstrom’s and BMW inform your spending.

3. Keep Working: One of the most destructive and surprising things that compromises suddenly wealthy people is the shift from working-to-live to not-needing-to-work-to-live. Work provides meaning in our lives and exposes us to challenges and successes we earn. Keep at it and maybe schedule some limited (1 week) time off.

4. Identify Values: A game plan is useless and really hard to develop if you do not have a compass heading. That’s where a good counselor can come in and help you and your family develop a clear set of values. These values, just like for a business, can be used to make all future decisions without needing to circle up your trusted advisors each and every time. One of the big issues is how to protect children from developing entitlement and a rotten, lazy attitude. This is a good opportunity to pull in a parenting expert (like us : ) and get some clear boundaries and expectations set.

5. Counseling: We recommend counseling from the very beginning simply because you will need an unbiased third party that has ZERO connection to your money and money decisions. This counselor will help with your significant life change and also act as someone you can bounce ideas off of without worrying about their agenda. Another great thing is that because of HIPAA regulations, the media, family and everyone else will be unable to communicate with your counselor unless you give explicit permission to do so.

Hope this helps all of you future lottery winners and entrepreneurs looking to cash in. With a little planning, patience and the right team, your wealth will last.