Now that we have passed Black Friday, we are increasingly being bombarded by shopping adverts about even more special shopping windows, including for Christmas. This period is when retailers make a sizable proportion of their yearly profits and there are numerous subconscious consumer decision-making processes that companies seek to exploit when we are shopping. In some respects, it is not surprising that we struggle with such powerful cues to spend and to consume.
If this represents a difficult time, it could be time to assess your shopping behaviour and uncover what is going on in your life. While many of us might rather flippantly refer to being “shopaholics”, shopping addiction, otherwise known as “oniomania” or “compulsive buying disorder” (CBD), can be a very serious condition.
Whilst having serious consequences, the terms are not, however, formally recognised in the medical field. This is because the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the so-called clinical diagnostic bible used by mental health professionals and published by the American Psychological Association (APA), does not recognise the condition. The DSM is effectively a panel of psychiatrists, and others, who regularly meet to discuss diagnostic criteria and look at clusters of behaviour to determine if the next iteration of the manual should incorporate updates. The manual is currently in its fifth iteration, hence why it is called DSM-5 (or DSM-V).
But just because a behaviour does not have a formal diagnosis, it does not mean that there are not some very serious emotional and mental consequences from over-indulgence.
Treatment for shopping addiction can be troublesome. Unlike drugs and alcohol, it is almost impossible to enforce and adhere to a total abstinence based approach to recovery, regardless of how problematical the activity is. Shopping is something that you will have to do at some point in order to cover essentials, at least, so triggers to shop might be ever present.
However, when assessing your behaviour around shopping, it may pay to refer to the ‘four Cs of addiction’ to determine whether it has become a real problem. For more on this and treatment options please see my article on Counselling Directory around counselling for shopping addiction.
Noel Bell is a UKCP accredited psychotherapist and can be contacted on 07852407140 or noel@noelbell.net
The need for clarification is apparent from the WHO deciding to name video games as a potential condition.