Compulsive buying disorder is overspending on steroids. If overspenders are often worried about money, compulsive shoppers are constantly consumed by their money worries. Ironically, one of their only escapes is the act of shopping itself and so they obsess about it, experience irresistible impulses to do it, and lose control of their spending. Often, early in their lives, compulsive buyers learned that the ritual of shopping provides a temporary escape, whether from a traumatic past, depression, dissatisfaction with their relationship or life, or feelings of emptiness. To fill the emotional void, shopping becomes like a drug, just as work is for workaholics. When compulsive buyers think about and anticipate the pleasure they will feel when they shop, dopamine, a “feel good” chemical, floods their brains—only to wear off quickly, leaving them craving another fix. Shopping can offer such a tremendous thrill for them, they literally get the sensation of being high. Soon after, however, they feel the inevitable emotional crash, which usually comes in the form of low self-esteem and buyer’s remorse. When left untreated, compulsive buying can lead to excessive debt, financial strain, bankruptcy, relationship problems, divorce, problems concentrating at work, and in some cases, legal complications.
Unfortunately, in our consumer-oriented culture, compulsive buying is a relatively common problem. It afflicts one in twenty people in the United States (approximately the same rate as clinical depression) and over 75 percent of compulsive shoppers are women. The prevalence of compulsive buying also appears to be on the rise, especially among adolescents; a recent study of high school students found that 44 percent met some of the criteria for compulsive buying.
We should note here that in some cases compulsive buying takes a surprising twist: the shopper seldom actually buys anything. The problem here is not the spending but the inordinate amount of time and energy expended in the process of shopping (at the expense of jobs, relationships and other productive activities), whether it be going to actual stores, looking through catalogs, watching the home shopping channels, cruising the internet, or some combination of these activities.
Compulsive buying, like most other addictive and compulsive disorders, has been successfully treated with a variety of approaches including psychotherapy, psychotropic medications, and support groups such as Debtors Anonymous.
