I'll be honest with you. After more than a decade of answering people's questions about their financial issues, there's one quandary people get themselves into that I just don't get.

During a recent online discussion, a participant admitted that when things get tough financially, this person just ignores the problem.

The participant wrote: "My solution for dealing with money troubles is to stop paying attention to them, don't check my bank account balance, stop opening my bills, etc. If a big stress or a large bill comes into my life, my brain shuts down and says 'stop paying attention to it.' "

Another person in the same online discussion was worried about her husband's $11,000 IRS tax bill.

What I found interesting was she didn't say they were trying to work it out with the IRS. Instead, she wanted to know what she could do to protect her money and assets from the IRS.

She asked: "Can we open a joint account without the IRS taking the money? And can we use our tax refund to pay off his taxes? How do I protect my assets that I had prior to getting married?"

Um, when it comes to an IRS debt, it's not enough to ask the questions. It's not enough to be worried. You should have long ago found the answers, found help.

I would call this woman and her husband money-avoiders.

So would Brad Klontz, a licensed clinical psychologist who is president of Coastal Clinics Inc., based in Hawai'i. Klontz joined me on the chat to discuss the ways people can transform their relationship with money. He is co-author of "The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge."

"The problem with denial is that it works — at least for a while," Klontz said in the discussion. "However, as you know, the problem just keeps growing and growing. Paying attention to something that causes us emotional strain can be difficult, but it is essential."

In a nationwide survey conducted for Money magazine, 36 percent of respondents said they go to great lengths to avoid facing up to financial reality. Seventeen percent said they avoid facing the financial truth by refusing to look at their bank balances or financial statements.

I have difficulty gasping why people don't face the truth when a delay can make it so much worse. Sometimes, just a phone call is all it takes.

As the year comes to a close, perhaps it's time to change your internal dialogue that says, "I can't handle the truth."

The chat participant whose brain shuts down when faced with a difficult financial issue asked for suggestions on ways to become "more in tune with and therefore more responsible" with money.

Here's what I recommend: