Am I buying things I don’t really need? Am I buying for pleasure? Am I buying too much? These are just some of the questions that we can ask ourselves nowadays with the new technologies; access to shopping is very fast, easy and we can change the products we don’t want and all, without the need to go to a physical store.
The needs have given way, many people, to online shopping, where many times products are purchased on a whim and in many people has become a serious problem. If this happens, we speak of compulsive buying or oniomania; this is associated with a maladaptive behavior of persistent buying to which the person has no ability to resist, with behaviors without self-control, addictive and without real needs.
Such compulsive buying tends to be more common in women, and they tend to have impulsive profiles and suffer from high anxiety, with lack of self-control and low mood, especially.
Symptoms of compulsive shoppers
The usual symptoms suffered by these people who suffer from compulsive shopping addiction are:
- Anxiety about shopping.
- Lack of self-control, impulsivity.
- Unfulfilled satisfaction after the purchase.
- Guilt, self-deception and/or shame after the purchase.
- Failed ideas to control the expense made.
- Irritability and mood swings.
It is usual that compulsive shoppers use strategies of emotional regulation; a thought appears where possessing or consuming something determined in an immediate way will bring them a certain sensation of momentary pleasure. This is when the brain generates dopamine, the neurotransmitter in charge of immediate satisfaction. After making the purchase, a short-term feeling of happiness is obtained. By achieving this positive reinforcement and having a false sense of control, pleasure and power, the brain will need to repeat the action as a source of pleasure, thus creating a repetitive pattern of addictive behavior.
After these compulsive purchases, feelings of lack of control, frustration or guilt will appear, so the mood will worsen. To avoid this frustration, the person will go back to shopping to feel better temporarily; oniomania may then begin.
Guidelines for taking control of purchases
The ten-minute self-control technique helps to avoid compulsive shopping. It consists for 10 minutes to stop that purchase.
If you buy online, you can add it to the shopping cart or if you are in a store, you tell the sales clerk to keep it for 10 minutes. In both cases, the activity will change and the dopamine after that time will go down, in the impulsive person, they will have self-control and when looking at the basket (online or looking for the product in the store again), it is then when the person will be able to discern if that product is really necessary or not since then they will be in control.
The key phrases will be:
- Can I live without it?
- What will I think and how will I feel in a few days if I buy this product?
- How else can I use that money if I save it for something else?
If we are able to react, we will be proud of ourselves as we are not sold to, but we are the ones who choose and buy; we are in control.
Let’s think how good we feel when we are in control of our purchases and spending! If you think you will not be able to control such purchases, turn to a specialist in this field.