Free Essay About Shopping Addiction Disorder (Shopoholism)

Shopping Addiction Disorder

Shopping Addiction Disorder or Shopoholism is defined as recurrent behavior of purchasing or intending to purchase items that are not required, or doing purchases for extended time periods than intended. Shopoholism is the word used for this compulsive shopping disorder. It is the disorder in which the addict feels a compulsion to spend money, irrespective of the financial resources or the needs. The person may be addicted to a specific product or may purchase anything from stocks to beauty items. This disorder leads to suffering and distress .

Key Diagnostic Symptoms

Some of the common symptoms of a person suffering from Shopaholism are:
Stress in a person’s life that leads to excessive shopping
Not telling the actual amount of money spent on shopping, lying frequently to hide the actual amount.
Just to have more money for shopping overcoming other financial responsibilities.
Behaviors of shopping lead to conflicts at home.
The addict feels regret over the money spent but still continues to purchase.
Description of key symptoms (Symptomology)
Just like an alcoholic person hides his bottles, in the same way a person suffering from shopping addiction will hide his or her purchases. Another common symptom is that a person suffering from this addiction goes to buy for instance one pair shoes and comes back at least 10 pair of shoes. Shopping addicts have secret credit cards which leads them to financial distress and even a broken relationship. A person addicted to shopping at times feels guilty, embarrassed or even ashamed after spending money. One visible symptom is that a person suffering from Shopoholism always spends more that he or she can afford.

Epidemiology – Who gets this disorder?

According to survey result approximately 80 till 95% of women suffer from compulsive shopping disorder . According to the percentage of women and men indulged in this order is round about the same that is 6% women are facing this disorder and 5.5% men. According to the age of people suffering from this disorder is males and females in their late teens and early twenties.
Some researches show that this disorder is prevalent in families and these families go through anxiety, substance use and other disorders. Most people believe that this order is mostly found in women but researches show that this is indeed a misconception. A study done in 2006 in which approximately 2500 residents in US participated reveals that this disorder is prevalent in both men and women equally. Another research carried out in Britain shows that men are indulged more in shopping when it comes to online shopping. Both the genders do this activity with different frame of mind.

Etiology- Causes of the disorder

There are a numerous reasons for people to indulge in extensive shopping disorder. Each case is based on individual hardships and realities and some personal need that is unmet. Some of the most common reasons include to cope with a negative mood state, to deal with a negative image of one self or may be to pass time rather than dealing with other important issues in one’s life. For some individuals shopping is way to deal with stress, anxiety and for some shopping is a way to show anger or take revenge. Some people indulge in shopping to portray an image of a wealthy person. Women with these orders have racks of possessions and clothes untouched and price tags still attached. People possessing this order go to malls to buy one or two items and end up buying a lot of stuff which is not needed. They even try to hide things they buy, from others and majority don’t even know that they are suffering from this order.

Treatment for this disorder

Shopaholism or Shopping Addiction disorder has no defined treatment, but evidence show that some therapies are successful in dealing with this disorder. Some antidepressants can also reduce buying disorder to a certain extent . It is also recommended that people suffering from this disorder are given professional counselling sessions.

Person suffering from shopaholism can be even suggested to take the following steps:

Always do purchases by cash, cheque or debit, avoid usage of credit cards.
Before going for shopping plan what you need to buy. Make a list and buy only those things that are on the list.

Join a gym or go for walk to reduce the shopping urges.

Take someone along when going for shopping, majority of this problem persists in people who go alone for shopping.
Find a new hobby and keep one’s self busy with that pastime instead of shopping.
What are negative effects of this disorder?
People indulged in this order do not feel happy instead it worsens their feelings, they regret all the time as it increases the financial burden on the person . At time shopping addiction ruins a person’s personal and financial life. Shopoholism even leads to broken relationships. This occurs because an addict spends more time away from family and home, tries to conceal that debt and starts alienating one’s self both mentally and physically from other people. Researches have also shown that people who suffer from shopping addiction disorder also face other disorders like eating disorder or substance abuse. Just like every other addiction, people suffering from shopping addiction become dependent on shopping to alleviate negative moods and feelings that even cause discomfort and more distress.
The short term impact of shopping addiction is positive. Sometimes even a person feels happy and excited after completing his or her shopping trip. But in reality this happiness is mixes with a feeling of guilt and embarrassment and at times this feeling of guilt forces a person to shop even more. But the long term impact of this shopping is hazardous. People facing shopping addiction face numerous financial problems, people go bankrupt and at times personal relationship also suffers because of this addiction.

References

Engs, P. R. (2010). HOW CAN I MANAGE COMPULSIVE SHOPPING and SPENDING ADDICTION. Journal of Indiana University .
Koran, L., Faber, R., Aboujaoude, E., Large, M., & Serpe, R. (2006). Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying behavior in the United States. The American Journal of Psychiatry.
McElroy, S., Keck, P. J., Pope, H. J., Smith, J., & Strakowski, S. (1994). Compulsive buying: a report of 20 cases. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Sharma, V., Narang, K., Rajender, G., & Bhatia, M. S. (2009). Shopaholism (Compulsive buying) – A new entity. Delhi Psychiatry Journal, 1-4.