Compulsive Shopping

Compulsive shopping or oniomania is a behavioral addiction in which people engage in excessive and expensive retail activity. It is an unhealthy obsession of buying items to the point where it’s already affecting the individual’s daily life. They feel the urge to purchase items to create a feeling of euphoria and avoid negative feelings.

This condition is psychological in nature and even extends beyond mere consumerism. Just like other behavioral addictions, this can cause adverse consequences to different areas of your life if left unmanaged. Some symptoms of compulsive shopping include anxiety when not shopping, a relentless desire to shop, and the buying of unnecessary or unwanted goods.

This kind of addiction triggers pleasure receptors in the brain, much like drugs. It produces a temporary high, masking the emotional pain and difficulty of life. People who struggle with this addiction usually spend more time and money on shopping than they can afford, and many of them end up in debt as a result of their excessive spending.