Mark Luigi Dacumos
Defining Shopping Addiction
Whether you call it shopping addiction, compulsive shopping, or compulsive buying disorder, this much is true: It’s a disease that affects many more people than you’d ever imagine.
How many are afflicted with a shopping addiction? Approximately 18 million in the U.S. alone.
Although the American Psychiatric Association doesn’t officially recognize this addiction as an actual disorder, compulsive shopping can be characterized by needing to spend money, even if you lack it or the purchase is unnecessary.
People can be addicted to shopping for anything, such as small purchases like jewelry or clothes to larger ones like real estate. Like a drug addiction, a compulsive shopper gets a high from making purchases, which can thrust them into a vicious cycle that’s hard to stop.
Symptoms of Shopping Addiction
What are the signs of a shopping addiction? They can be hard to uncover in certain situations since some people can hide their addiction well. And even those who live with them may not know that they have a compulsive buying problem.
Even though compulsive shoppers may seem happy and successful on the outside, it could all be a façade to cover up deep debt. While the symptoms may vary from case to case, here are some basic signs of a shopping addiction:
- Lying, stealing, or doing whatever’s necessary to keep shopping, even if it hurts others.
- Making several attempts to stop compulsive shopping, only to fail.
- Not being able to manage money or pay off debt.
- Feelings of intense excitement or euphoria after purchasing something.
- Continuing to shop despite feelings of remorse after purchases.
- Buying and stockpiling things that go unused.
- Using shopping as a coping mechanism to combat stress.
- Maxing out credit cards and opening new ones without making payments.
- Obsessing over buying new things every day or week.
Shopping Addiction Treatments
If the symptoms above look familiar, the good news is there’s help specifically for the issue of shopping addiction. At-home treatments via friends and family can include:
- Cutting off cash flow and credit cards so the person cannot shop.
- Putting someone else in charge of the person’s finances.
Those moves may be necessary if the addiction is too overwhelming. But if it cannot be treated at home, the person may need to enroll in an inpatient addiction program. If the shopping addiction is the result of mental health issues like depression, medication may help. You’d need to see a mental health expert to determine if this is the case.
Beyond those treatments, a compulsive shopper could turn to money management classes for help. As with alcoholism, there are 12-step programs such as Debtors Anonymous and Shopaholics Anonymous.
The critical thing to remember is that shopping addiction cannot go untreated. The problem will not fix itself, and it’ll only get worse as the person encounters a wide variety of potential problems like:
- Losing the trust of friends and family
- Turning to theft to support the habit
- Arrests
- Criminal charges
- Deep debt
- Bankruptcy
- And more
