Shop to live or Live to shop !!!
Shopping addiction:
The flooded malls, jewelry shops, flea markets, street markets and now the roadside stalls, home driven garment -jewelry businesses and gigantic online shopping market are the proofs that human may have undergone the mutation of gene for shopping.
The availability of thousands of variety in things, the easy mode of buying paying and yes, the raised spending capacity on shopping is the ladder that we have already climbed up to reach to the new skies of ‘Life of Buy’.
Previously it was Eat to Live .May I change it to ‘Shop to live’? All of you must be agree with this makeover of an old phrase.
Shopping for things has nothing to do with the need and necessity anymore. Shopping itself has become need of human nature. For some shopping is passion, shopping is feel good factor, shopping is competition. Shopping is fun ,Shopping is weekend!
For them they don’t know that shopping can be an addiction!
Yes your causal frequent trips can be addiction. A very less known and most denied type of addiction is Shopping addiction!
What are the symptoms ?
How can one identify that one’s love for shopping is an addiction?
- Feeling of happiness or a rush of euphoria and anxiety when you spend money to buy things.
- When you are sad , depressed ,tensed and shopping make you feel better.
- Some patients of depression can find solace in shopping (just like eating for some patients) which may turn into addiction.
- Feeling lost without credit cards and shopping trips.
- Buying items on credit that would not be bought with cash.
- Feeling guilty, ashamed, embarrassed or confused after shopping or spending money
- Lying to others about purchases made or how much money was spent
- Thinking excessively about money and things to buy.
- Spending a lot of time juggling accounts or bills to accommodate spending
- Spending much time online on shopping sites and buying things that are not needed and of immediate concern.
Do you know there are different categories of shopping addicted people ?
OMG !
Yes there are some interesting types of shopping addictions.
- Compulsive shopaholics who shop when they are feeling emotional distress.
- Trophy shopaholics who are always shopping for the perfect item.
- Shopaholics who want the image of being a big spender and love flashy items.
- Bargain seekers who purchase items they don’t need because they are on sale.
- Bulimic shoppers who get caught in a vicious cycle of buying and returning.
- Collectors who don’t feel complete unless they have one item in each color or every piece of a set or collects multiple things which are not necessary.
Adverse effects of shopping addiction:
- Financial problems due to overspending
- Loss of control over managing the things those are needful and otherwise.
- Disturbed relationships due to lying and overspending
- Long term guilt and helplessness in shopping addiction may turn into other mental disorders.
- Debts loans are the serious financial complications.
- Loss of concentration and work goals in severe addiction. inability to focus on necessary work.
Solutions:
- Not accepting the habit of compulsive shopping or addiction of shopping is the huge barrier in solving the problem. Self realization and acceptance is the first big step.
- Core counselling and support from family and friends is must.
- The very serious cases need medication that work on mainly the depression related issues.
- Keeping watch on online shopping and physical shopping by near people will help detect this serious problem earlier
The blog series on Addiction is intended to introduce some really weird but serious types of addictions. People even don’t recognize them as addiction is the alarming thing. This write up is a honest try to throw light on these type of addictions. Little knowledge will surely make positive difference in some lives.