Shopping Addiction – What You Need To Know About Compulsive Buying Disorder

With Christmas approaching (as I write this), it seems like this is a good time to write about shopping addiction – what it is, what it isn’t, what symptoms to look out for, and what you can do about it if you are affected (or you know somebody who is).

What Is Shopping Addiction?

Sometimes known as Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), as its name suggests, this is a condition where people become obsessed with buying things, and it is believed to affect anywhere from 5% to 9% of the population.

Like most addictions, it is cyclical in nature:

1. Anticipation. The person gets an urge to buy something, and not necessarily something they actually need – just to purchase something, anything.
2. Planning. The sufferer creates their plan of attack – where to shop, when, what to wear, how to pay, and, of course, where there are current sales in progress.
3. Browsing. This is still a necessary component of the entire experience, but this browsing phase is not enough – the person is looking for something to buy, unlike a window shopper who is often happy just to look and imagine.
4. Buying. This is the stage where the person chooses something and actually pays for it. This is the phase where the sufferer feels relief from the urge that drove them to buy something in the first place.
5. Remorse. The final phase is where the person feels shame and guilt at having given in to their habit again.

The “reward” is feeling good, but the problem is, like drug addiction, that each “hit” provides increasingly smaller and shorter-lasting levels of satisfaction, which means the time between this compulsive buying behaviour also becomes shorter.

And in line with modern trends, there is even a subset of this condition that is known as Online Shopping Disorder – a shopping addiction that can be supported from the comfort of your own home, which is something the shopping channels are playing on with great effect.

What Shopping Addiction Is Not

There are two behaviours that sound like shopping addiction, but they’re different:

1. Impulse Buying. This is where you see something and buy it without thinking through the pros and cons and without having planned to purchase it. For example, do you really need it, does it have the features you need, what is its track record in terms of performance and durability, are there other similar items that would be better for you. Many people do this at times, but this does not necessarily mean you have CBD – although it can be a precursor.
2. Spending Spree. This is when you spend a relatively large amount of money in a relatively short space of time. This might happen, say, if you suddenly come into some money (e.g. a bequest or lottery win), and in the run-up to Christmas where people spend a lot of money all at once (even though they may, of course, have been saving up to buy those presents all year long). Again, an occasional spending spree is not the same as a shopping addiction, unless it becomes a too-frequent activity.

People also jokingly refer to some of these behaviours as retail therapy, because they use the act of buying things as a way to replace their feelings of anxiety, depression, or just having a bad day, with the usually short-term pleasure of acquiring something new (e.g. clothes, jewellery, a gadget).

However, this retail therapy may or may not be a sign of a compulsive addiction – it depends on what motivates you to do it, and how frequently you indulge in it.

Consequences Of Compulsive Shopping

As with most addictions, there are consequences, which include the loss of:

1. Finances, which sort of goes without saying.
2. Focus, because your obsession with buying things distracts you from more important issues.
3. Health, because mental health problems can lead to physical health issues too.
4. Job, because you could either be fired or cause your own business to have to file for bankruptcy.
5. Property, because you could even lose your house if your debts become too large.
6. Relationships, which includes your partner, your children, other relatives, your friends.
7. Reputation, because when people find out you have any type of addiction, they may think less of you.
8. Respect, because many people find it hard to look up to somebody with a mental health problem.
9. Self-esteem, because while you may gain short-term pleasure from your buying habit, you will feel guilty and shameful about yourself because you cannot control your addiction.
10. Time, because you could be doing other, more useful or necessary activities instead of shopping.
11. Trust, because it’s hard to trust somebody who cannot handle money responsibly.

In addition, you may feel embarrassed by your behaviour and your inability to control it, but the consequences can be even worse than that – you could face legal issues and even end up in jail, because debtors’ prisons are still a thing (in the USA, at least).

Characteristics Of Compulsive Shoppers

These are some of the traits you would usually see in people who are addicted to buying stuff:

1. Family members (past or present) who suffer from mental health problems, including substance abuse and, of course, compulsive buying – because children often learn by imitating their parents.
2. Excessive spending sprees.
3. Impulse control problems (often called a lack of will-power).
4. Mental health issues (e.g. anxiety, depression, eating disorders, stress), because people with one type of mental health disorder often exhibit others too.
5. Money problems, which sounds counterintuitive, but for some people, spending money (that they cannot afford to spend) can make them feel (at least for a short while) that they’re not poor after all.
6. Poor self-esteem, because spending money can make people feel like they are “somebody”.
7. Relationship issues, because a lack of a close relationship has been positively correlated with a focus on more material things.
8. Substance abuse problems, because, as with mental health problems (see above), addiction can manifest in several forms at the same time.

Many of the above problems have been shown to be pretty reliable predictors of compulsive buying disorder (and other compulsions too, in all likelihood).

In terms of gender, while you may expect there to be significantly more women who suffer from this condition, that’s not what the research shows. It is true that women are slightly more at risk, but not as much as you might think.

What Are The Symptoms Of Shopping Addiction?

The more of the following questions you can answer “yes” to, the more likely it is that you are a compulsive shopper:

1. Do you buy things you don’t really need and may not be able to afford?
2. Do you conceal or lie about what you bought from others, particularly your partner, because you are afraid of their reaction?
3. Do you do illegal or unethical things (e.g. lie, steal) to fund your shopping habit?
4. Do you consider yourself to be a spendthrift?
5. Do you feel a strong urge to buy, without knowing the reason why?
6. Do you feel guilty about buying things?
7. Do you find yourself trying to justify your purchases, to yourself or to others?
8. Do you find yourself unable to help spending any (or even all) of the money you currently have?
9. Do you frequently indulge in retail therapy as a way to feel better about yourself and your situation?
10. Do you frequently shop when your mood is low (e.g. anxious, depressed, stressed)?
11. Do you gain more pleasure from the act of spending money than you do from the items you actually buy?
12. Do you keep buying the same type of item over and over, constantly trying to find the “perfect” version?
13. Do you often indulge in impulse buying?
14. Do you purchase from direct mail offers or online shopping channels?
15. Do you purchase items that are on sale for the sole reason that they are on sale?
16. Do you regret buying something, especially if it’s an item you didn’t truly need?
17. Do you usually find your credit cards are maxed out?

As with mental addiction issues, a trained medical professional should be able to give you an accurate diagnosis.

Strategies For Dealing With Shopping Addiction

Here are a few ways that some people try to manage and overcome their compulsive shopping behaviour:

1. Admission. The first step is to recognize that you have a problem, because until this happens, it is highly unlikely that you will even see a need to change your behaviour.
2. Block Websites. You can get software that will prevent you from accessing sites such as shopping channels and any other site you want to add where you spend money needlessly.
3. Cut Up Your Cards. While you may need to leave a debit card for everyday necessities such as fuel and petrol / gas, cutting up and cancelling your credit cards may be one way to help prevent unnecessary spending.
4. Financial Manager. I don’t necessarily mean a professional, but somebody close to you who helps you to manage your money in a responsible way.
5. Find Other Interests. This is a distraction technique, but you can always find other ways to spend your time. Maybe your shopping is preventing you from spending time on more important activities (e.g. work, household chores), but if this is not the case, then find other hobbies or interests, or even something new you can learn, to give you more creative and helpful ways to pass the time.
6. Have Somebody Else Buy The Essentials. If you can send your partner, or a responsible child who’s old enough, to go and buy the daily necessities (e.g. groceries), you will not be faced with the temptation to buy items you don’t need or cannot afford.
7. Join A Program. There is a program called Debtors Anonymous that provides a similar service to Alcoholics Anonymous but for compulsive shoppers.
8. Journalling. Once you accept that you have a problem, you might find that writing a journal about your experiences, how you feel (both before and after you shop), etc. helps, because journalling has been shown to offer many benefits.
9. Shop With A Friend. When you go shopping with another person, there is somebody to act as your conscience and advisor, who can help you to refrain from buying items you don’t need.
10. Therapy. Seeing a therapist can be a valuable part of managing and recovering from this addiction, but it is unlikely that this alone will be sufficient. However, by receiving counselling, you may unearth other issues that are actually at the heart of your shopping addiction, which is obviously going to be helpful.

Conclusion

Like all mental health problems and addictions, being a shopaholic is not fun – not really.

It’s an illness that needs to be treated before it ruins your life (and the life of others, including those you care about).

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Debtors Anonymous (US only)
2. Shopping Addiction – A Personal Story
3. Shopping Addiction Support (US only)