Shopping Addiction - The Ultimate Guide

Have you ever tried to stick to a budget and a simple walk into a shop destroyed all your plans? You are not alone – most of us have experienced at least one instance of impulse shopping. While one occasional unplanned shopping session does not bring any major consequences, a potential problem could arise when this becomes a long term habit. In this article, we are going to look at what shopping addiction is, what makes one vulnerable to it and how it can be managed and treated.

Understanding Shopping Addiction

For most of us, shopping can seem like a harmless behaviour that could never impose any dangers on our mental health. We are very familiar with how overspending can affect our financial situation, but the concept of shopping addiction seems rather new and bizarre to us.

You might think that it’s nearly impossible to get addicted to the act of buying new things – at the end of the day, we all know exactly what we need and do not need, right? We are also the ones in charge of our wallet and credit cards and can always make an informed decision about a new purchase.

In theory, we are. In most situations, no one forces us to buy anything – at least not directly. But what we are not so in charge of is the subconscious impulses and desires that make us buy more and more things, even when they do not serve any practical purpose. What many of us fail to realise is that the act of acquiring new things is not such a conscious and simple decision.

Surely, we might think that we simply go to a shopping centre or browse for new items online and then just decide to buy them.

However, in many cases, the decision to buy something new is influenced by a lot more factors than the mere necessity itself. It might be that we feel stressed or upset and need a temporary boost. Or that we need things that make us feel better about ourselves or look in a more desirable way. Sometimes our purchases are influenced by a trend, by our group of friends, or even by the persuasive shopping assistant in a clothing store.

The main idea that we should try to understand here is that our shopping behaviour is a lot more complex than we realise. And it is this complexity that sets the ground for the development of potential addiction to the act of shopping.

As you will see later in this article, shopping addiction is caused and triggered by a host of underlying factors such as self-esteem problems, poor emotional regulation, impulse disorders, and other aspects that make someone more vulnerable to this condition. Most importantly, you will also realise that our decisions to buy a new item can serve many kinds of purposes that we are barely aware of. This is also a highly important aspect of shopping addiction.

Essential Shopping Addiction Statistics

To reveal the harmful nature of shopping addiction, here are some statistics and facts that show you how this behaviour influences our moods, decisions, and, ultimately, lives:

Over 37% of people experience feelings of guilt and shame after a shopping session – these negative emotions make them hide their purchases from their family members due to the fear of being judged for their impulsive decision.
Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) – the official term for shopping addiction – is reported to affect between 8-16% of the UK population, with the majority of individuals affected by this condition being women. People with CBD report feeling anxious and tense prior to purchasing new items, which is what leads them to acquire new things to relieve the discomfort.
85% of people affected by symptoms of shopping addiction reveal that they are worried about finances and getting into debt. Since buying is an impulsive decision in this condition, many people struggle to adequately control their spending, which leads to stress around money.
Women are nine times more likely to become addicted to shopping than men. Statistics reveal that women tend to buy clothing items, jewellery, beauty products, while men tend to mostly buy electronic devices, cars, and clothing items like suits and watches.
Compulsive buying addiction is often accompanied by other mental health disorders, such as substance misuse disorder (46%), anxiety disorders (41%), and eating disorders (15%). This means that, in some people, shopping addiction can be just one of multiple manifestations of a certain mental condition.
24% of people in the UK report buying items that they never use, which indicates that for people affected by compulsive buying disorder, shopping is just a form of therapy that helps them cope with negative moods.
The average woman in the US spends around 190 hours per year shopping for clothing items and between 84 and 95 hours shopping for food.
44% of people in the US regret buying things on sale – which, again, reinforces the idea that many individuals buy things to satisfy a temporary impulse, and not out of necessity.
In 2021, the online market is predicted to increase up to $4.9 trillion. This trend was particularly exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic when many shops were closed due to the imposed restrictions. As a result, people resorted to online shopping as the main method of purchasing new items.

How Do You Recognise Shopping Addiction?

It is important to be educated and informed on how shopping addiction can show up like in someone. The main symptoms to look out for are:

An intense preoccupation with buying and shopping. When someone directly displays this symptom, they can be overly concerned with acquiring a new item and dedicate a lot of time to this endeavour. Furthermore, they can be preoccupied with items that are not practical or necessary, which means that the person is more concerned with the act of purchasing than with the practicality of the item itself. The buying preoccupations are time-consuming and interfere with one’s social life and professional responsibilities, without the person necessarily being aware of this.
Frequent buying of more items than one can afford – Another sign of shopping addiction is when someone buys items even when they know that they lack the financial means to cover all the costs. As a result of this, the person affected by this condition can run up into financial debts that they struggle to manage. As in the previous symptom, the items acquired at the risk of financial debt are not necessarily needed – instead, they are bought out of compulsion.
Experiencing euphoria and relief after buying something – usually, these feelings are preceded by tension and anxiety which the person is trying to escape from by purchasing one item either in-store or online. Ultimately, this is the main emotional state people with a shopping addiction are trying to achieve: fulfilment, excitement, and relief from all negative emotions they might have at that particular time.
Unplanned budgets and chaotic spending – unlike normal shoppers who usually have an estimate of how much they are going to spend within a shopping session, those with CBD can go into financial debt due to their inability to control their shopping-related urges.

The Stages of Compulsive Buying

Anticipation – during this stage, the individual feels a strong urge to shop for new things. They might also experience some anxiety or tension which drives them to buy new items even more. This stage is also characterised by an onset of control loss, wherein the individual is more concerned with the need to buy new things than with assessing their financial situation.
Preparation – When someone is in this stage, they begin to prepare the details they need for the shopping session. They might decide which stores to go to, what payment methods to use, and what new things they can buy.
Shopping – this is the main stage of the process, where the person suffering from shopping addiction compulsively buys new things, regardless of whether they are needed or not or of the lasting financial consequences. During this stage, many people are so out of control with their spending that they do not take the time to make an informed decision about the things they buy. Instead, the decisions are rather automatic, compulsive, and made with the unconscious aim of meeting certain unmet needs or fulfilling various emotional goals.
Spending – as soon as the new items are bought, the individual begins to experience feelings of guilt and shame. This is the moment when they start to weigh the consequences of their actions and assess the financial implications of their decisions. Unfortunately, shopping can only relieve unpleasant feelings in the short term. As soon as the excitement fades over, the person experiences the undesirable feelings again and gets back to the cycle of looking for new items.

Cause of Shopping Addiction

As with any other mental health disorder, there is no specific factor that directly leads to shopping addiction. In most cases, this condition is developed from underlying predisposing factors. These can be related to:

Low self-esteem: Research studies indicate that having low self-esteem esteem is a risk factor for many compulsive disorders, such as shopping addiction. Individuals who engage in excessive buying attempt to escape negative feelings about themselves by purchasing goods that temporarily make them feel good.

However, studies report that it is not always the purchased things that increase someone’s self-esteem, but rather the person’s involvement in the buying process. For example, someone might feel slightly better about themselves by telling themselves that they are able to afford so many new things.

Negative emotional state. Even individuals who do not suffer from shopping addiction find that they feel a lot better after buying something new for themselves. It goes without saying that a shopping session provides a temporary boost in someone’s mood by relieving negative emotions.

However, in those who display symptoms of compulsive buying disorder, this temporary sense of excitement after a shopping session can feel more intense. Since shopping has even been recognised by research to ease stress and distress, those who have chronic negative emotional states (such as those suffering from depression or anxiety) are more likely to act impulsively and have excessive shopping-related behaviours.

Enjoyment. Psychological enjoyment has been identified as an emotion that naturally occurs while people shop for new items, especially online. Individuals who are sensitive to the rewarding effect of buying new items are more likely to be motivated by the enjoyment of engaging in shopping-related activities. Furthermore, enjoyment has also been found as a determinant of someone’s likelihood to shop.

The fact that someone experiences enjoyment while shopping does not necessarily mean that they will develop an addiction to this habit. However, finding joy and fulfilment in the act of buying new things can, unfortunately, be a risk factor for shopping addiction.

Poor emotional regulation skills. This factor refers to the inability to properly manage one’s negative emotions that lead to compulsive behaviours, such as shopping. People with lower emotional regulation capacities find it more difficult to manage feelings such as worry, distress, anxiety, or sadness and therefore seek new opportunities to escape them. This means that they will engage in behaviours that temporarily bring them a sense of fulfilment and excitement, such as shopping. In contrast, someone with good emotional regulation skills would attend to their emotional state without using external stimulation. Therefore, they wouldn’t need to resort to behaviours such as compulsive and excessive shopping to have a better emotional state.
Gender. Research has found that certain addictions, like compulsive buying disorder, can vary by gender. Scientific evidence suggests that women are at an increased risk of displaying compulsive shopping behaviours than males.

This can be explained by the fact that, in Western society, women are portrayed as being the ones in charge of household shopping. They are also raised with the mindset that shopping is an opportunity for socializing that relieves bad moods and helps them achieve a sense of fulfilment. As a result of this, women are more likely to use shopping as a way of coping with unpleasant emotional states, therefore increasing their chances of developing shopping addiction.

Cognitive Overload – Having to process too many stimuli under stressful circumstances can lead to elevated stress and anxiety. In turn, this makes people overspend on new items in an attempt to reduce the distressing feelings caused by information overload.
Emotional Deprivation in Childhood – People who received little or no emotional affection and validation in childhood are more likely to turn to shop as a way of filling those unmet emotional needs. Many people can be left with the feeling that no matter how many new items they buy, their emotional void does not go away. Unfortunately, very few individuals are aware of the deeper causes of their spending habits, especially when these are rooted in their childhood.

Mental Disorders Occurring Alongside Shopping Addiction

As it has been mentioned in the paragraph above compulsive buying disorder rarely occurs as a standalone disease. Usually, it is one of the multiple symptoms of a more complex mental health disorder which has to be investigated by a mental health professional.

Research shows that people with a shopping addiction can have other comorbid diseases, such as:

Affective Disorders

It is not unusual for people with compulsive buying disorders to resort to shopping as a way of masking underlying symptoms created by a certain affective disorder. In fact, research shows that affective disorders are the most common psychiatric illness among those who shop compulsively, with 68% of those with shopping addiction displaying symptoms such as anxiety and mood swings.

Out of all affective disorders, depression seems to be the most common disorders among compulsive buyers.

This can be explained by the fact that depression is marked by ongoing feelings of sadness, meaninglessness, and emptiness which many people try to overcome by buying more stuff. Depressed individuals can also feel that life has no purpose, therefore buying new things seems like a temporary solution to this directionless state.

What is more interesting is that people with shopping addiction seem to report depressive symptoms prior to developing compulsive buying tendencies. This research finding further reinforces the idea that shopping addiction develops from another mental health disorder. It can also be conceptualized as a means that individuals use to cope with the distress caused by poor mental health.

Unfortunately, shopping for new things does not solve the sense of chronic sadness and meaninglessness that depressed individuals struggle with. What they can find instead is a temporary relief and perhaps a short-lived feeling of excitement which goes away as soon as the novelty of the purchased items fades off.

Until the root causes of depression will be properly addressed and treated, compulsive shopping will remain a mere attempt to bring some joy and fulfilment to an otherwise gloomy outlook on life. Only when depressed people realise that no things or purchases will resolve their distress can they really deal with the underlying reasons for their depression.

Impulse-Control Disorders

Many symptoms of various impulse control disorders are similar to the ones found in shopping addiction.

The most common conditions belonging to impulse control disorders are compulsive shopping (9.3%), kleptomania (7.8%), and pathological gambling (6.9%). Studies confirm that individuals with a shopping addiction can also display symptoms of other impulse control disorders, the most common being kleptomania.

This disorder refers to an irresistible urge to steal things from shops, even when these are of little use or when they can be easily afforded by the person stealing them. There seems to be a clear link between kleptomania and compulsive buying, as shown in studies that found that 14.7% of women and 11% of men show symptoms of both conditions.

Kleptomania is caused by a poor ability to regulate impulses and emotions. Individuals who resort to stealing from shops experience uncontrollable impulsivity to take things even if they can afford to pay for them. It is not the necessity of certain goods that drives people with this condition to resort to the stealing behaviour, but rather the experience itself. Stealing seems to fulfil certain unmet needs within individuals with kleptomania that they have little or no awareness of.

This condition also has to be addressed by certified menthol health professionals who can help individuals with those symptoms gain control over their behaviour and impulses. Addressing the root causes of impulsivity is essential to treat both shopping addiction and kleptomania.

Personality Disorders

Studies report that people with compulsive buying disorder also meet the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders like borderline, avoidant personality disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Similarly, there seems to be a link between other pathologies like narcissistic personality disorder and the inability to regulate one’s impulses around shopping. At the root of both conditions lies poor emotional and impulse control, which drives individuals to engage in compulsive behaviours.

Although the relationship between these conditions needs to be further investigated by research, we can conclude that shopping addiction can manifest, among other causes, as a result of complex personality disorders.

Substance Use Disorders

It is not uncommon that people with shopping addiction also suffer from various substance misuse disorders, as research indicates. There seems to be a strong link between alcohol, nicotine, benzodiazepine, and cannabis use and compulsive buying disorder. At least 30% of those with shopping addiction also have a lifetime addiction to a substance.

Again, the underlying causes seem to be related to increased impulsivity, poor emotional regulation as the most common psychiatric causes of those with substance misuse disorder and shopping addiction.

Engaging in substance misuse leads individuals to lose control of their behaviour, and therefore engage in practices like compulsive buying. Some people with substance misuse disorder might only display shopping addiction symptoms when they are under the influence of a certain substance; nevertheless, compulsive buying still imposes the same risks on someone’s financial situation and mental health even if they only make purchases when influenced by drugs or alcohol.

Eating Disorders

Although the correlation between compulsive buyers and disordered eating is still uncertain, some studies reported an increased prevalence of eating disorders in those with symptoms of shopping addiction.

It seems that binge eating disorder is the most common among those who struggle with compulsive buying. At the root of binge eating disorder lies a poor ability to control one’s affective states and impulses related to eating, which can manifest in a similar fashion in those with a shopping addiction.

In conclusion, as shown in the paragraphs above, shopping addiction shares many common symptoms with other psychiatric pathologies.

It seems that the most common denominator of those mental health conditions is a reduced ability to control one’s impulses and engage in safe emotional regulation practices. Therefore, in such situations, treating compulsive buying disorder should happen alongside adequate treatment for the underlying mental health conditions.

Management of Shopping Addiction

Since it is difficult to pinpoint a precise cause of shopping addiction, research has not yet found a treatment that effectively addresses all aspects of this disorder. For this reason, it is essential that people with compulsive buying disorder have several management strategies they can use to reduce the instances of impulsive purchases.

The management strategies can vary from person to person, depending on the severity, length of their symptoms and on their individual differences.

So far, research has indicated that the following self-management techniques can be useful in treating the symptoms of a shopping addiction:

Pharmacotherapy

This intervention refers to the medical treatment prescribed by a health care or mental health practitioner following a thorough intervention of the person’s symptoms. It is usually adopted in cases where someone suffers from other mental health struggles, such as obsessive-compulsive, personality or affective disorder. Medication is also indicated in those with depressive or substance misuse because it helps regulate emotional states, thus reducing impulsivity around shopping.

Research indicates that this intervention has proven to be effective in patients with symptoms of depression and compulsive buying disorder. It might be that the reduction in depressive symptoms reduces someone’s tendency to use shopping as a means to cope with unpleasant moods and emotional states. Therefore, by addressing the root causes of shopping addiction (such as depression or any other mental disorder), patients can see an improvement in the frequency of their compulsive buying tendencies.

Psychotherapy

In cases where medical treatment is not necessarily needed, people with a shopping addiction can greatly benefit from psychotherapeutic interventions.

These are centred around changing the patient’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviours that contribute to the maintenance of compulsive buying. Some psychotherapy interventions that have been found to be effective in the case of those who struggle with shopping addiction are cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), cue exposure, self-help programmes, and self-monitoring.

During a course of psychotherapy, patients are taught to monitor their symptoms and behaviours and to achieve a better understanding of the causes leading to instances of compulsive buying.

They are also supported to work with their emotions and to adopt better coping strategies when they encounter stressful situations that lead to making impulsive purchases. Since a major cause of shopping addiction is poor emotional regulation, psychotherapy can help those with this condition implement efficient emotional regulation strategies they can use when under the compulsion to buy unnecessary things.

Similarly, cue-exposure methods refer to exposing patients to situations where they would potentially have a compulsion to buy things while supporting them to choose a different method of responding to the situation. This method is highly efficient because it shows patients with shopping addiction that they can develop the willpower to resist future urges to buy things.

Over time, the patient learns new ways of responding to situations when they experience an irresistible urge to shop compulsively. As a result, their impulses will gradually diminish as the patient learns to work with their emotions, destructive thoughts and to choose a better course of action.

Self-Help Methods

Some authors on compulsive buying disorder take a strong stance on using self-help interventions instead of medications.

They claim that it is more useful for people with this condition to learn to manage their symptoms than rely on medical treatment. For example, self-help strategies that are greatly recommended by experts in this area are counselling, support groups, psychoeducation, and learning new skills.

It is generally acknowledged that people with an impulse control disorder such as compulsive buying often struggle with interpersonal relationships. As a result of this, they might significantly benefit from interventions such as couple’s therapy or marriage counselling where they learn to communicate their needs and express their concerns and fears.

As their relationships improve, people with shopping addiction can find that they find valuable support and resources in their interpersonal relationships. These can also fill the unmet emotional needs that lead many individuals to compulsive buying.

Furthermore, self-help interventions for shopping addiction also include a four-step approach that people with this condition can use to break the habit by themselves:

A Four-Step Approach to Reduce Compulsive Spending

Admitting that you struggle with compulsive shopping – this stage is essential because it allows individuals to recognise their problem so that they can seek help for it. Many people with shopping addiction are in great denial of their condition, as they justify their shopping behaviour using various reasons, such as – I need this item, I need to buy something to feel better, The amount of money I spend is not that significant, etc.
Get rid of credit cards or other financial sources that fuel spending habits – In order to reduce instances of compulsive spending, you have to create an environment that supports this decision. This means making credit cards as inaccessible as possible by cutting them, handing them over to someone you trust, or simply place limits on your weekly/ daily financial spending.
Ask someone to accompany you to shopping sessions or only choose to buy new things in the presence of someone else. Knowing that you are shopping with a friend or relative can decrease your tendency to overspend, as feelings of embarrassment can arise. It is, therefore, a good idea to ask someone you trust to go with you whenever you decide to shop for new things.
Engage in other meaningful activities outside shopping. One of the reasons why many people choose to spend their free time browsing for new items online or overspending in stores is because they lack other sources of real enjoyment and fulfilment. Finding fun activities, hobbies and events that help you connect to other people or discover other sources of excitement can help you reduce the desire to buy new things that you don’t necessarily need.

Money Management Interventions

Knowing how to budget effectively can also be a great tool in the treatment of shopping addiction.

People who struggle with this condition have little awareness of their spending and often do not know how to set clear limits on their financial output. This increases their risk of running into financial debt by excessive use of credit cards and chequebooks.

Therefore, part of the treatment plan for someone with shopping addiction is financial education and money management lessons. These techniques can increase awareness of one’s spending habits and the financial implications of overspending in the longer term.

Money management lessons can be accessed in local training courses or online.

12-Step Recovery Programs

Just like alcohol addiction, compulsive shopping disorder has to be approached in a structured and goal-directed way. In this sense, a 12-step recovery program can be suitable for those who wish to engage in group intervention and recovery programs in their local area.

Organizations like Shopaholics Anonymous and Debtors Anonymous also offer recovery programs in the form of support groups. Many people engage with these support systems even years after they begin recovery.

This intervention can help because it makes those who struggle with shopping addiction feel less isolated. All addictions are highly emotionally consuming and can feel incredibly lonely, which is why support groups and recovery programmes can provide a positive contribution.

Long-Term Implications of Shopping Addiction

Financial Difficulties – Overspending can impose many risks on someone’s financial situation. People with shopping addiction can easily run into debt or acquire a negative financial history on their credit card. In turn, this can lead to difficulties with buying or renting a house and to a decreased credit score. Additionally, people with compulsive shopping habits might have to file for bankruptcy, take on an additional job to pay off debt or can even lose their house or mortgage.
Mental health decline – A shopping binge might help someone feel better in the short term, only to leave them with a sense of intense guilt. In the longer term, compulsive shopping can make people feel hopeless, as they want to stop overspending but are unable to do so on their own. As a result of this, their mental health can decline, as the individual with shopping addiction experiences more guilt and shame and deeper anxiety and depression.
Hoarding – This is a common co-occurring disorder in those who suffer from shopping addiction. It refers to the tendency to hold on to things even when they are no longer of use. Hoarding can result in an increased need for storage space, such as having to move to a bigger place. It is hypothesised that people with compulsive buying disorder tend to hoard things in an attempt to relieve feelings of guilt for buying more things they actually need.

Compulsive Shopping Self-Management Checklist

To summarize the interventions presented above, you can take these main ideas into account when dealing with urges to shop compulsively or help a loved one struggling with this condition.

Reduce temptations as much as possible – the fewer visits to shopping centres, the better!
Make a list of items before going into shopping stores and always only buy what you need!
Ask a trusted friend to come with you when going shopping.
If you want to make a purchase you are not sure you need, wait for a few hours before actually buying it.
Ask yourself every time when making a purchase – do you actually need this item or do you just want it?
Develop new ways of managing your emotions – if you are stressed or anxious, try to find other distractions instead of going shopping. Call a friend, take a bubble bath, go for a walk.
Discover new hobbies and fun things to do – when other things will occupy your attention, compulsive shopping will begin to fade from your mind.
Learn to ride the shopping urges as they occur – in the recovery process from shopping addiction, it is natural that urges will happen at some point. Learn to stay with them but try as much as possible to not act on them immediately.
When in stores, develop new habits. Instead of compulsively looking for things, try to make the shopping process slower. Only look at items that are relevant for your needs and stay away from those which impose a higher overspending risk.

Final Words

In this article, we have looked at a new type of impulse control disorder – shopping addiction. As you have seen, this condition is highly complex and stems from a wide array of vulnerable risk factors.

In many cases, shopping addiction can be a manifestation of co-occurring mental health conditions, such as affective, personality, and impulse disorders. Similarly, it can also act as an emotional regulation tool for individuals who have negative ways of dealing with distressing situations.

Treatment options discussed above include mediation, psychotherapy, and self-help methods, depending on the unique circumstances of each individual.

Shopping Addiction – The Ultimate Guide