Are You a Compulsive Shopper?

Compulsive shopping disorder or Oniomania, is a medical term used to describe people who resort to shopping whenever they feel low. They believe that shopping can make them feel better.

Binge shopping can be damaging in more ways than one. Its side effects are not limited only to its impact on your savings and bank account but go much beyond. Being shopaholic can negatively affect your relationship with your spouse and even result into nervous breakdowns. Read on to know more about this disorder:

What is a Compulsive Shopping Disorder?
Compulsive shopping disorder or Oniomania, is a medical term used to describe people who resort to shopping whenever they feel low. They believe that shopping can make them feel better.

Oniomania is thus only an overt response to a person’s low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, or anger. The subsequent shopping sprees only tend to worsen their psychological state because of the financial repercussions associated with them. It is thus similar to other forms of addictions such as alcoholism, gambling and overeating.

Identifying If You are a Compulsive Shopper
To identify whether you are a shopaholic is to look out for the following behavioral symptoms:

. Do you shop when you are depressed, primarily to feel better?

. Do you end up buying things that you are not in need of?

. Are you often clandestine about your shopping outings or what you buy, especially with your spouse?

. Do you experience a feeling of guilt on your way back from these shopping excursions?

. If the answer to these questions is in affirmative, you are indeed a shopaholic.

Ways of Getting Over Your Need to Shop
Identifying yourself as being a binge shopper is one thing and preparing yourself to take corrective actions is quite another. To bring about radical changes in the way you shop, you would need to make the following behavioral changes along with a strong determination to get over this compulsive disorder.

Here is a list of some smart ways to avoiding any further dent to your bank account:

1 Before venturing out for shopping, prepare a list of all that you require and strictly stick to this list.

2 Avoid visiting sales or malls on discounts. If you must, determine the upper limit of your intended spending beforehand.

3 Quit watching shopping channels on the TV or ordering over phone from catalogues.

4 When on holidays, assign a specific amount for shopping and stick to it.

5 Hit the gym rather than a shopping mall when the urge to shop takes on.

6 During all your shopping excursions, don’t ever carry a credit card. Make payments only through cash.

7 In fact getting rid of all your credit cards but for one (for emergencies) is a good option.

8 While shopping in branded outlets, don’t carry any cash/credit cards. Try out things in the mall and buy them on-line once you are back home, if you still feel they are worth buying.

9 Go for window shopping only once the shops have closed down. If you do go during the day, remember to forget your wallet back home.

However, if all the above mentioned steps are not working for you, it’s probably time you met a professional counselor.

There can be no doubt that shopping is rapidly emerging as one of the most preferred national pastimes. Get hold of your shopping habits before they can get hold of you!