Are You a Shopaholic?

Definition
A slang term for Compulsive shopping also known as Oniomania
Disorders
It has only been accepted as a disorder by the German organization for obsessive-compulsive disorders. Compulsive buying is a maladaptive preoccupation with buying or shopping, or maladaptive buying or shopping impulses or behaviour, as indicated by either: frequent preoccupation with buying or impulses to buy that is/are experienced as irresistible, intrusive, and/or senseless, or frequent buying items that are not needed or cannot be afforded or shopping for longer periods of time than intended.

Symptoms
Victims often experience moods of satisfaction when they are in the process of purchasing, which seems to give their life meaning while letting them forget about their sorrows
Causes
 Personal
 Systemic

Personal
The addicted person gets into a vicious circle that consists of negative emotions like anger and stress, which lead to purchasing something. After the buying is over, the person is either regretful or depressed. In order to cope with the feelings, the addicted person resorts to another purchase.
Shopaholism often begins at an early age. Children who experience parental neglect often grow up with low self-esteem because throughout much of their childhood they experienced that they were not important as a person. As a result, they used toys to compensate for their feelings of loneliness. Adults that have depended on materials for emotional support when they were much younger are more likely to become addicted to shopping because of the ongoing sentiment of deprivation they endured as children. During adulthood, the purchase instead of the toy is substituted for affection. Shopaholics are unable to deal with their everyday problems, especially those that alter their self-esteem. Most of the issues in their lives are repressed by buying something.
Systemic
Social conditions may also play an important role, especially in capitalist societies that are dominated by a consumerist economy. Ubiquitous marketing and advertising promotes a culture of consumerism, by encouraging the creation of artificial needs. Debt such as facilitated by Credit cards, enable the casual spending beyond that of ones means. What differentiates oniomania from healthy shopping is this compulsive, destructive and chronic nature of the buying.

Are You One?

What do women want? In order of preference, most female compulsive shoppers buy clothes, shoes, jewellery, makeup and compact discs.

Men? Clothing, shoes, electronics (TVs, stereos, computers, etc.), hardware and CDs.

They don't buy one CD, they buy 10 CDs at a time, women buy five skirts, all the same, perhaps in different shades or slightly different styles, where a normal buyer would identify a need for something new or attend a sale and buy one item.

Find Out if You Are One, Take this Quiz
True or False? Evaluate the following statements:

1. When I am feeling depressed, I usually go shopping.
2. I spend a lot of money that I do not have on things that I do not need.
3. I get a rush when I make a purchase, but I “crash” soon afterwards.
4. I have closets full of clothes that I have never worn, and countless gadgets that I have never used.
5. I often feel reckless and out of control when I shop.
6. I lie to my friends and family about how much money I spend.
7. Even though I feel very distraught about my debt, I still shop.
8. I feel emotionally upset and disturbed by my own shopping habits.
9. After a big shopping trip, I sometimes feel disoriented and depressed.
10. My shopping has caused problems in my personal relationships in one way or another.
Did you answer “True” for four or more of the above statements? If so, it is possible that you have a real problem with compulsive shopping.
Quiz from www.essortment.com

Are You a Shopaholic? Six Steps to Curb Compulsive Spending
1. Cut up your credit cards. Do it today. “But I need them for an emergency.” “But I get cash back.” “But they’re convenient.” No buts. If you have a problem with compulsive spending, destroy your credit cards now. Don’t jot the numbers down someplace “just in case”. I’ve done this in the past, and I know how easy it is to go to your desk drawer, pull out the numbers, and place an order online. Get rid of the credit cards completely. (Do not attempt to cancel your accounts, however, until you’ve paid everything you owe.)
2. Only carry cash. Don’t use checkbook. Don’t even use a debit card. Inconvenient? Absolutely, but that’s the point. If you’re a compulsive spender, your goal is to break the habit. To do this, you’ve got to make sacrifices. You’ve also got to begin to make the connection between buying something and actually spending money. Plastic (and to some degree checks) make this connection fuzzy. Use cash.
3. Track every penny you spend. When I was addicted to shopping, I intentionally turned a blind eye to how much I was spending. But most of the time, I wasn’t even aware of how much I spent. Lunch every day, how much could that possibly cost? (Answer: over 100/month.) Picking up a few comics on my way home from work? What harm was there in that? Once I began to track my spending, certain patterns became clear. When I saw the patterns, I was able to act on them.
4. Play mind games. For some people, money is not an emotional issue. They understand it intuitively. They’re able to make the smart choices without temptation to do otherwise. For most of us, though, money is more about mind than it is about math. For us, it can be useful to play tricks on ourselves. What do I mean by mind games?
o Use the 30-day rule to control impulse spending.
o Ask yourself: “Is this a want or a need?” Try to discover what is motivating the purchase.
o Tax yourself: Whenever you buy something, force yourself to set aside some set percentage as savings.
o When you’re tempted to buy something, write it down. Make a wishlist. I do this at Amazon in order to control my spending. I have a gigantic wishlist which I prune occasionally. This wishlist keeps me from actually buying things!
Yes, these are simple little tricks. But they’re tricks that work. If they can help you stop spending, that’s all that matters.
5. Avoid temptation. The best way for me to avoid spending money on comic books is to not enter the comic book shop. If your weakness is music, stay out of the record store (or de-activate your iTunes account). If you tend to spend money at big department stores, then stay out of them. Avoid the places where you’d normally spend.
6. Ask for help. Beating an addiction can be tough when you’re going it alone. Seek support from your friends and family. Ask your spouse to help. (And be open when they call you on your actions — don’t get angry.)
Finally, consider seeking professional help. There is no shame in obtaining psychotherapy for problems that seem bigger than you. Ultimately you must look inward to overcome any form of addiction — a therapist is like a trained guide who can help you find the way.
www.getrichslowly.org