Shopping is part of our daily life. We all need food, new clothes and household items. But now we are fully entering a time of year where we spend a little more than usual: advertising and the pressure to acquire the best deals often lead us to enter a cycle of excessive spending, facilitated and promoted because our purchasing possibilities are in force 24/7, with advertisements that constantly remind us of the best deals on our favorite products.
But often we spend out of boredom or stress, because we’re sad or to celebrate something. There are people who lose control over the need to buy, spending way beyond their means, but not without feeling immense guilt after each purchase of an unnecessary item.
This vicious circle defines compulsive buying, a behavioral addiction that masks deeper mechanisms: stress, anxiety, emotional lack or low self-esteem, in addition to the financial and emotional consequences that impact daily life. Beatriz Molina, health psychologist and collaborator of Ags Psicoluciones Madrid, helps us learn a little more about what compulsive buying is and what to do to break this cycle.
What is compulsive buying?
As the psychologist explains to us, compulsive buying appears when “the person feels a very intense purchasing impulse and uses this action to relieve internal discomfort”. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a question of a lack of will or a budgetary problem. Compulsive buying masks psychological mechanisms that are beyond the person’s control.
“It is not a whim, but a quick way to deal with very unpleasant emotions, such as frustration, sadness or loneliness, among others,” explains Molina. All these emotions find their origin in accumulated stress, unresolved conflicts or past experiences “that made the body more sensitive”.
Although it may seem contradictory, compulsive buying “can generate guilt, anxiety and a growing sense of loss of control,” Molina warns. The problem is that people buy more and more “automatically, as if impulse is faster than their ability to decide, and this greatly affects self-esteem.” All this only increases problems, both economic and coexistence with the rest of the family, so “this habit ends up generating more discomfort than relief,” explains Molina.
“Normal” purchases versus compulsive purchases
What is the difference between normal purchases, occasional spending and compulsive purchases? What differentiates one from the other is that behavior becomes the person’s primary means of coping with stress. That is, the person will continue to buy excessively even if it harms other areas of their life. “Compulsive buying becomes an escape that offers immediate but very brief relief, since it is often followed by guilt, but it ends up reinforcing the behavior because for a few seconds it produces a feeling of calm,” explains Molina.
“Shopping is attractive because it activates the brain’s reward circuit: the simple idea of acquiring something new produces a slight increase in well-being and makes the experience stimulating,” explains Molina. But it is only something momentary, a pleasant but fleeting sensation, which forces the person to constantly seek it.
Often, the external pressure is so strong that the person feels “pressure to take advantage of offers with which the seller seeks to generate a sense of urgency.” All this relieves the reward circuit of the brain, in the same way as what happens in other addictive processes, making the purchase particularly tempting when the person feels anxious and saturated,” explains Molina.
What clues are behind compulsive purchases? As Molina explains, a compulsive buyer “experiences impulses that are difficult to stop, buys more to calm their emotions than out of necessity, later hides their spending or regrets, and notices that this behavior begins to affect their finances, peace of mind, or relationships with others.”
As demonstrated by this study published in American Journal of Drugs and AlcoholLike addiction, compulsive buying often accompanies other mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression, becomes a repetitive purchase that fulfills a primary response to negative events and feelings, and can include symptoms equivalent to craving and withdrawal, the study concludes.
How can we break the cycle of compulsive buying?
To stop compulsive buying, it is essential to understand the motivations behind these excessive behaviors. Observing impulsive purchases, especially during times of stress, boredom or sadness, can provide crucial information about the triggers of these behaviors.
Because, as Molina recognizes, “to control this impulse, it is not enough to forbid yourself from buying; it is more useful to learn to manage the moment when the urge appears.” It is therefore essential to “recognize what emotion is hidden behind it, whether it is nervousness, sadness or saturation due to fatigue, so that you can act in another way and not automatically.”
For the psychologist, it is essential to do something that “decreases the activation of the body, such as taking a few minutes, breathing, moving away, walking or talking to someone for a moment to find clarity.”
In the case where the behavior is already well established, it is essential to “work on the emotional causes at a therapeutic level that maintain it, because this is usually the most effective way to recover or create a healthier relationship with shopping,” recommends Molina.
About The Author
