I Shop, Therefore I am: When you Just can’t Stop Buying

Princess Diana collected clothes. Elton John collected suits. Imelda Marcos collected shoes.

Turns out 1 in 10 of us can’t control the urge to spend. Is your closet overflowing with never-worn clothes, the price tags still intact? Is your attic full of boxes that have never been opened or touched? Do you buy a new pair of glasses regularly or buy handbags by a dozen?

You might be a shopaholic.

Experts think that 10 percent of the population, and possibly 20 percent of women are chronic spenders (McVeigh, 2000). Today’s materialistic world tacitly condones shopping sprees. People who cannot stop shopping, even at the expense of their career, marriage, family and finances, are driven by pleasure-seeking arousal and by gratification. Seem that life’s little pleasures can become major problems for people with compulsive disorder.

Known as omniomania or obsessive compulsive shopping, shopaholism is a disorder characterized by manic, compulsive shopping on both services and goods. According to Donald Black, M.D. (2010), a University of Iowa professor who specializes in obsessive-compulsive disorder, a German psychiatrist published the first clinical description of compulsive shopping. As early as 18th century, historical figures like Louix XVI and Marie Antoinette are compulsive spenders. Compulsive shopping is not a modern-day “designer disease”. However, it is only now that this condition is reaching epidemic proportions.

According to Eric Hollander, M.D. (2010), Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, diminished levels of serotonin have been implicated in the disorder. Low-levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter well-known as a contributor to the feelings of...

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...l right to engage in a little bit of “retail therapy” after a hard day’s work. Anyway, who doesn’t like to go on an occasional shopping spree after passing your midterm exam, or got a job promotion? Shopping is obviously one of our most pleasurable leisure pursuits. However, in this whirlwind of a life, anything a little bit above the normal can sometimes be destructive. Be sure to go on a planned shopping, with someone who will constantly remind you not to go overboard. Yes, almost everyone, if not everyone, will make an impulsive purchase, but don’t threaten to engage yourself into a compulsive spending. You might just put yourself at risk of financial breakdown if the same behavior continues. Though it is no laughing matter, we may jokingly admonish ourselves for our shopaholic tendencies. It’s time for you to confess, could you be an actual shopaholic?