Shopping Addiction

Compulsive spending, also known as compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is a recognized condition that is prevalent in the global population. Characterized by a person’s obsessive tendency to shop as a form of relief from a certain trigger, compulsive spending is a serious and repetitive cycle that often results in harmful and damaging consequences.

A person who suffers from irresistible spending has an obsessive tendency to buy items that are neither needed nor wanted. Often, people with CBD use spending as a coping mechanism to escape the stressful reality that they are facing.

If you find yourself to be exhibiting acts such as those mentioned above, you do not have to wait until you are under a debt help programs to make you realize the severity of your actions. Here are some helpful tips to stop compulsive spending on its tracks:

Acknowledge the situation

It is a form of impulse control disorder where the person afflicted, despite the negative and risky outcome of his actions, finds the act of shopping or buying to be irresistible. As with any ordeal, the first step to addressing any problem is to acknowledge its existence so you can deal with it head-on. After all, you cannot stop something if you do not recognize that it exists.

Identify the triggers

Oniomania is another term for compulsive spending. It makes the person want to spend and buy things as it gives them a sense of gratification. But the need to be happy from spending comes from a deeper emotional trigger. To stop uncontrollable spending, you would need to pinpoint what exactly happens right before the spending begins. When you identify what things make you feel emotionally vulnerable and low, you can make an elaborate action plan to avoid your triggers and keep yourself from falling back into the vicious spending cycle.

Find a healthier alternative

Most, if not all, compulsive spenders dive into an emotional low (think regrets and guilt) after the gratifying feeling of spending subsides. Then the cycle repeats. To avoid this pitfall, find an avenue where you can divert your attention and eventually recover emotionally. Whether it is through expressing your emotions in a journal, getting happy hormones from exercise, or finding a new hobby, finding a healthy source of happiness can be an effective way to stop this.

Seek personal and professional support

Enlisting the help of family and friends, as well as turning to health care professionals, for guidance and management of your condition is a healthy step towards inhibiting your irresistible spending actions. Whether it a simple one-on-one talk with a friend or taking the time to meet your doctor for a consultation, reaching out to others will bring several advantages. For one, you will get the emotional support that you need and a constant reminder to keep fighting the urge to spend. Second, this can lead to repairing the relationship strains caused by your compulsive spending. Third, in relation to health care providers, you can be assured that the advice you are getting is among the proven and effective means to properly control your obsessive shopping splurges.