What is shopping addiction?
Shopping addiction occurs when shopping becomes a necessity, no longer a recreational activity or a way to solve a need. In most cases it involves unnecessary or fashion-related products.
Also known as compulsive shopping or oniomania, it is an addiction that causes the subject to buy for the sake of buying, being unable to control impulses.
Prognosis of the disease
The disorder can worsen if not properly treated. People suffering from this addiction may suffer from anxiety, lack of control or a sense of guilt.
Shopping addiction can lead to family, relationship or work problems, as well as indebtedness, lying or stealing, due to uncontrolled impulses to possess an item.
Shopping addiction occurs when shopping becomes a necessity.
Symptoms of shopping addiction
People who suffer from a shopping addiction are usually in early adulthood, approximately between the ages of 18 and 30. These people tend to spend large amounts of money on shopping, in some cases accumulating debt.
Some of the common symptoms of people suffering from shopping addiction are:
- Feeling of guilt
- Low self-esteem
- High satisfaction when shopping
- Difficulties with social skills
- Misrepresentation of what they have
- Bipolarity
- Anxiety, depression or feeling of emptiness when not shopping
- Constant frustration
What are the causes of shopping addiction?
Internet shopping has facilitated the rise in cases of shopping addictions. Below, we identify the main causes of addiction:
- Obsession with physical appearance: social networks have given enormous power to image. Fashion can be a means to enhance this presence and can lead to an addiction to buy new products.
- Low self-esteem: this is the basis of multiple sufferings. This can cause a person to seek acceptance in their group of friends, trying to project a certain image.
- To cover affective deficiencies or internal voids: with a routine of going shopping, a person may feel in control of this aspect of his life. He uses the occupation to distract his attention from a matter that may be of greater concern to him. In other words, there may be personal suffering behind the addiction.
- Education lacking in limits: if a person has grown up in a situation where his whims were immediately catered for, he internalizes that model of the world where desire is not postponed.
Can it be prevented?
To avoid falling into compulsive buying, it is recommended to follow these tips:
- Avoid shopping in times of sadness
- Go shopping accompanied
- Make a shopping list to evaluate what you need.
- Go out with a specific budget
- Detect if you have an accumulative behavior of similar products.
Treatments for shopping addiction
The required treatment is based on behavioral strategies, so that the patient can improve his self-control, reducing his maladaptive behaviors.
The goal is for the addicted person to improve his or her level of functioning and reduce anxiety. In some cases, to enhance the results, psychological therapy is combined with pharmacological therapy.
Which specialist treats it?
Shopping addiction disorder should be treated by a specialist in Psychology or Psychotherapy.