…the more disoriented you feel in the store, the more you feel compelled to buy! buy! buy! — Azadeh Aalai Ph.D.
Treatments For Shopping Addiction
Oniomania or the unmanageable and addictive impulse to purchase or shop for things that are not needed is prevalent among adults aged 20 to 30. It is the age when people are beginning to earn money for themselves. Compulsive buying or excessive shopping can involve either male or female but is common among women (read further here: womansday.com).
Shopping Addiction
- Shopping for a lot of stuff that makes you happy is okay as long as you’re not bothering other people for it. It is not okay when you’re still asking for money from your parents. Always remember that when you ask mom and dad, they will try their very best to give you what you ask for even if it means they have to sacrifice a lot of things to give it to you.
For example, you want to shop for that new and famous pair of shoes, and you just can’t fight the urge. Don’t go asking from dad to buy it for you especially when you know he doesn’t have the means. If you’re working hard, earning a lot, saving enough, and not burdening anyone with your shopping addiction, then it is okay.
Shopping Addiction Cons
- Make sure your shopping addiction is not causing your plastic card bill and debts to pile up. Having bad credit would be one of the unacceptable things that could happen when you’re an adult, especially when you’re single. It doesn’t give you many reasons to have tons of debts. That kind of thing is a sign of irresponsibility and could affect your credibility. It is all right to enjoy the fruits of your labor as long as you have the means and do not drown in debts because of it.
Treatments: For Shopping Addiction
When you compromise the two things mentioned above, then it’s time for you to reconsider your addiction. It definitely is not healthy anymore and could affect not just you but everyone else around you. Money matters can get troublesome when you enter the adult world, so make sure you don’t get tied up in handling shopping addiction poorly.
People that “fill-up” with impulsive purchases are often thought to be motivated by simple greed. What I’ve found is that the catalyst is not so much greed or materialism, but emotional relief. — Kit Yarrow Ph.D.
Evaluate yourself, and if you know you need treatment, you can always consider online counseling. Nowadays, everything is pretty much done through the internet, even some therapies helpful to treating mental health.
Shopping Addiction Causes
People develop shopping addictions because of the feeling they get when they shop, according to Ruth Engs. The brain releases endorphins and dopamine when we shop and can become addicting. Engs narrates that 10 to 15 percent of the population may be are inclined to these feelings
Shopping Addiction Signs
There are many signs that one can look for to confirm if someone you know or yourself is a shopping addict. You can use these signs to check on your loved ones.
Shopping Addiction Symptoms
Shopping addicts try to hide their addiction and its a possibility that they may hide their credit card bills, shopping bags, or even receipts.
Here are some other emotional symptoms of shopping addiction:
- Spending more than they can afford
- Shopping as a reaction to feeling angry or depressed
- Shopping as a way to feel less guilty about a previous shopping spree
- Harming relationships due to spending or shopping too much
- Losing control of the shopping behavior
Shopping Addiction Treatment
- Online Therapy Provides Privacy.
Some people suffering from shopping addiction may still be in denial, and they don’t want anyone to know about their situation. Shoppers need someone to tell them exactly what they are dealing with instead of hearing their own conscience.
Discreet Treatments For Shopping Addiction
- Some shoppers need to be discreet as they are still maybe trying to treat their addiction and are avoiding worse things to happen. For instance, their parents or spouses do not know they are suffering from shopping addiction and have no idea about the mountain of debts they are facing. The shopper may want everything to be settled to avoid stressing out the people concerned.
- Online Therapy Offers Convenience.
Most shopping addicts are in the corporate world or those who are earning their own money, so they are most likely busy pretty much all the time. They may not have time to seek face-to-face addiction therapy. In online therapy, the shopper can always access and reach out to an addiction therapists on their preferred schedule.
A person suffering from a hunger disease such as compulsive spending experiences anxiety because he or she wants something but cannot allow themselves to really know what it is. This knowing would perhaps be too painful to tolerate and hence the compulsion to spend becomes the method of soothing, a frantic race to kill off the thoughts, and acquiring objects of desire with a “magical” credit card, makes the soothing process easy. — Angela R. Wurtzel, MA, MFT
Therapy Treatments for Shopping Addiction
As a result of online scams happening every day, most people get the misconception that most therapies for shopping addiction online are a fraud, but as long as you check the credibility and authenticity of an online therapy website.
Treatments for Shopping Addiction
Oniomania, shopping addiction, or compulsive buying are money matters that hinder success,
and although money should not be the measure of being successful, it could determine how much a person can handle and manage responsibilities. Online therapy is beneficial (read more relevant benefits here: momjunction.com) not only to people suffering from shopping addiction. It is an online tool to help those who prefer dealing with mental health issues without having to attend sessions physically.