How to deal with compulsive shopping addiction
Carl Gustav Jung once said of the addictions, “Every form of addiction
is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or
idealism”. Now, we can add one more type to the list i.e. the compulsive
shopping addiction. It may or may not be as harmful as narcotics but
Compulsive shopping addiction (also known as Oniomania or compulsive
buying) is widely regarded a psychological disorder, which is identified
by an obsessive desire to shop around. At first, it may seem like a
very harmless compulsion; in the longer run it can have some serious
repercussions, first on your finances and eventually, the other areas of
your life. There are two main causes of this addiction, first being the
domestic problems including low self esteem, feeling unimportant, and
the second being the external factors, most notable being the wicked
marketing tactics (yes, you guessed it right).
Whatever the cause, a person suffering from oniomania finds himself
shopping excessively for no apparent reasons. Of course, it’s pretty
normal and in fact healthy if we indulge in moderate shopping every now
and then, however it becomes alarming when this necessity or leisurely
activity starts turning into a fixation. Mainly because shopping
requires time and money, needless to say both of them are precious and
must not be wasted on unnecessary items. For some it might be a
completely alien feeling to visualize shopping as an addiction but
according to a research more than 6% of American population suffers from
compulsive shopping addiction.
The worse thing about any of these addictions is the feeling of
disappointment and regret that follows. Despite knowing the futility of
the activity, it is incredibly hard for an addict, to break the vicious
circle of compelling thoughts of doing something and lamenting later on.
It worsens in case of shopping addiction because your friends and
families are not able to realize the predicament that you are suffering
from. Therefore, the first thing you should do is to discuss the problem
openly with your family members. The best line of attack against any
addiction is to get yourself busy, as it is often the idleness that
allows your mind to run the sequence over and over again. Another thing
to do is to record your negative feelings (that you get after the
shopping) in some diary, doing so will keep reminding that the shopping
is not as fulfilling as your mind makes it out.