Do you feel an irresistible pull to the mall and own far more shoes than you reasonably need? Do you spend a lot of your time thinking about money and shopping and juggling the books to continue your spending ways? Does your buying habit cause you problems, either financial or with those you love? Do you think you might have a serious problem with shopping…?
Although we may consider ourselves a nation of shoppers, for about 1 in 20 of us, the way we shop and buy has gone beyond the range of normal and results in significant consequences to wellbeing and financial solvency. For about 5% of us, our shopping behaviors are actually a mental illness that requires treatment.
Compulsive buying is also known as compulsive shopping, shopping addiction, shopoholism and oniomania. Most experts consider compulsive shopping to be a form of impulse control disorder (not otherwise specified).
If you have a compulsive buying disorder you experience regular powerful urges to shop or buy that are very difficult to resist, and because of the time and money you spend on buying, you very likely experience financial or relationship problems. Although you likely shop as a way to deal with negative emotions, and although buying can make you feel very good temporarily, buying usually results in feelings of guilt and remorse, which can in turn restart the compulsive cycle.1
Prevalence – How Big Is the Problem and Who’s at Risk?
The prevalence of compulsive buying in the general population ranges from 1% to 6% in research studies. Women are far more likely to have this type of impulse control disorder (90%).2
Compulsive buying typically emerges in a person’s late teens or early twenties and is generally a chronic or lifelong problem. People with a compulsive buying disorder are also likely to experience another co-occurring psychiatric issue, such as substance abuse, another impulse control disorder, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders.
page last update Dec 08, 2010
