Compulsive shopping also is known as shopping addiction, compulsive buying disorder, oniomania and compulsive spending. There are more than 18 million adults in the US who are struggling with compulsive shopping. It is described as a compulsion to buy things or spend money regardless of financial means and need.
A person who is suffering from shopping addiction feels like he cannot control his behavior. This is more common in females as compared to males. While shopping is considered a recreational activity or a treat, compulsive shopping is a serious mental health disorder and can cause severe consequences.
Shopping addicts are addicted to a certain product such as shoes, clothes or jewelry. They buy anything they are addicted to from food to cosmetics to real estate. They are not capable of resisting their inner urges to spend excessively or to make purchase repeatedly even if they don’t need the product or cannot afford it.
Unfortunately, the person who is suffering from shopping addiction will experience the same high or rush like a drug addict gets while abusing drugs. And once our brain starts associating shopping with the high or rush, a person recreates it, again and again, to experience the rush repeatedly.
There’s little known about this addiction. Studies show that the average age of a shopping addict is approx. 30 years while other research suggests that it occurs at the age between 18 and 20. That is when people are able to get their own credit cards. This topic needs more research.
Symptoms of Shopping Addiction:
Like any normal addict, people who are suffering from shopping addiction tend to hide their problem by lying to their friends, coworkers, spouses and family members.
Many compulsive shoppers reflect an image of being rich or having plenty of money to spend but in reality, they are sinking deep in debts. If you or someone you know cannot stop shopping even if having a high amount of shopping debts to pay, the shopping addiction is to blame for their problems.
Symptoms exhibited by shopping addict:
- Making frequent purchases of the same type of items
- Being over-obsessed for their purchase
- View shopping as a method to cope with stress and anxiety
- Max out their credit card limits or get a new one without clearing the due balance of the previous one
- Feeling really excited or euphoria after making a purchase
- Making purchase unnecessarily or buying things that go unused
- Lie or steal to continue shopping
- Regretting their purchase but unable to stop shopping
- Continue to shop even after being unable to pay their debts
- Trying to limit their purchase but failing repeatedly
Treatment for Shopping Addiction:
In comparison with other behavioral addiction, shopping addiction is more typical to manage as people are making purchases every day; it is a part of our day-to-day lives. We need to buy food regularly, clothes, personal products etc. Shopping addiction cannot be treated by simply putting a halt on shopping.
Some experts suggest that the cash flow to be ‘cut off’ for compulsive buyers, depending on the severity of addiction.
Someone else should monitor the expense of compulsive buyers. They should be the in charge of their finances. Some rare patients of shopping addiction may need to go inpatient addiction recovery program due to their behaviors.
Mostly shopping addiction can be cured through individual counseling and behavioral therapy. They help addicts to learn how to control their impulse of buying and identify the triggers.
In some cases, shopping addiction may arise from a deeper emotional or mental issue. If the cause of addiction is depression or some other mental health condition then medication can be helpful. In such cases, a mental health expert can help you to correctly diagnose the condition and prescribe you the necessary treatment.
Treatment of shopping addiction may include:
- Interrupting the concern self-perpetuating cycle
- Facing and accepting the issue
- Discovering new and healthy ways of feeling, acting, and thinking.
It is also advised to create a support network of family, friends or others with shopping addiction to overcome this issue. It provides a better and healthy way for addicts to return back to healthy behaviors.
Just like any other addiction, a compulsive buyer can relapse but with proper treatment strategies and counseling, they can learn the coping skills to get back on the road to recovery.
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