Credit cards, online shopping and cash machines flood the market so that today’s consumer can buy immediately and on impulse. Shopping has become a cultural compulsion with personal consequences.
We all have reasons to shop - the most obvious of which is to satisfy a basic need. However, buying behaviours can become a problem when a person shops to ignore a negative emotional state such as sadness or frustration. The problematic side of shopping occurs when the ability to monitor ourselves and moderate our decision-making around buying becomes impaired.
Addiction involves a loss of control. Consequently, shopping is a problem when a person buys compulsively and feels it is beyond their control to stop. The person may feel irritable and tense when they can’t curb their impulse to spend. They may feel that the compulsion is getting worse and they need to do it more to get the same kind of effect. Difficulties are created because of the consequences of the buying behaviour, such as telling lies, financial problems and family difficulties. The person feels rotten and guilty but still can’t resist the urge and can’t contemplate a life without shopping.
A person with a shopping addiction needs to ask: do I shop to fill a void? What is happening with my emotions and why do I feel compelled to continue a self-destructive beahaviour?
Compulsive buying is estimated to impact on 8% of the population, but some estimates suggest it could affect up to half of the population. Up to 60% of people with a shopping addiction are grappling with huge debts and 40% are unable to pay back their debts. Fifty percent suffer from significant guilt after making a purchase and report that about half of the items they buy never get used. Latest trends show that men are fast becoming addicted to shopping at a level on par with women. On average, a person with a shopping addiction will experience 17 out of control buying-experiences per month.
People with a shopping addiction tend to suffer from other difficulties such as poor self-esteem and anxiety and many have problems with exercising impulse control. Lurking somewhere at the end of the purchase, the guilt sets in. The realisation dawns about what has occurred. The initial high is not prolonged and the consequences of feeling out of control can contribute to depression leading to a vicious cycle.
For the most part shopping is an enjoyable past time but for some people it has become uncontrollable. If shopping is causing difficulties in your life, you may need to seek further help either by talking to your GP or a clinical psychologist.
