The Real Value of Recovery From Shopping Addiction

The Psychology of Shopping Addiction

Shopping addiction is an impulse control spectrum disorder.³ People who compulsively buy typically share some personality traits, like reward-seeking. And it’s common to experience both shopping addiction and other impulse control disorders.

Shopping Addiction and Co-occurring Disorders

Studies show that many people who compulsively shop also have at least one other mental health condition.¹ If that’s true for you, you can look for a rehab that treats co-occurring disorders. A few conditions are especially likely to co-occur with shopping addiction:⁸

• Substance abuse
• Eating disorders
• Anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Mood disorders, like depression or bipolar disorder
• Personality disorders

Experts are still researching the relationship between these conditions. Shopping addiction may be a symptom, or it may stem from the same root cause as another diagnosis.

What Causes Shopping Addiction?

Compulsive shopping is not a moral failing. In fact, biological, psychological, and social factors can all lead to shopping addiction.

Genetic Factors

Studies indicate that there’s a genetic component to shopping addiction.⁹ In these areas, data shows 2 primary factors that motivate people to shop compulsively.

First, capitalist society makes shopping easily accessible. A huge variety of different goods are readily available. People may also have more disposable income and more leisure time to use the items they buy.

Second, much of Western culture places high value on material wealth. People judge each other—sometimes harshly—for what and how much they own. As a result, there’s a great deal of pressure to prove your worth by purchasing new things.

A History of Trauma

Surviving childhood trauma can also lead to compulsive shopping.¹⁰ Any type of trauma, like physical abuse or neglect, can make shopping addiction more likely. But certain childhood experiences—like emotional abuse and witnessing violence—are especially common among people with shopping addiction.

For some people, shopping is a way to cope⁷ with the symptoms of their trauma. Focusing on a new purchase can briefly distract you from painful memories by making you feel better in the moment. And making financial decisions—even unsustainable ones—can give you a sense of control.

Shopping as a Coping Mechanism

Even for people without childhood trauma, compulsive buying isn’t really about money.⁶ Instead, it’s a way to control or cope with stress. That’s why people with shopping addiction are more likely to buy something after experiencing a difficult emotion, like sadness or anger. Instead of accepting that feeling, you might seek the short-term gratification of a purchase in order to avoid emotional pain.

Take Ownership of Your Recovery Journey

Shopping—even sustainable shopping—relates to the idea of value. It might seem like buying things increases your self-worth. But the math isn’t that simple.

There’s so much more to you than what you own.

To learn more about treatment methods and contact centers directly, see our searchable list of rehabs for shopping addiction.

Reviewed by Rajnandini Rathod

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2. Hague, Ben, et al. “Treatments for Compulsive Buying: A Systematic Review of the Quality, Effectiveness and Progression of the Outcome Evidence.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 379–94. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.064. Accessed 31 Jan. 2023. [↩]
3. Granero, Roser, et al. “Compulsive Buying Behavior: Clinical Comparison with Other Behavioral Addictions.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 7, June 2016, p. 914. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00914. [↩] [↩]
4. Barrett, Claer. ‘The Dopamine Is so High’: The Psychology of Shopping Addiction. 29 Nov. 2022, https://www.ft.com/content/5b4d2fd6-5510-4b0c-aeba-402211d97510. [↩]
5. ROSE, SUSAN, and ARUN DHANDAYUDHAM. “Towards an Understanding of Internet-Based Problem Shopping Behaviour: The Concept of Online Shopping Addiction and Its Proposed Predictors.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 3, no. 2, June 2014, pp. 83–89. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1556/JBA.3.2014.003. [↩]
6. “Are you addicted to shopping? If you can’t stop, you are.” Optum Life Balance. April 2014. https://www.hrm.oa.pa.gov/workplace-support/seap/Documents/Life%20Balance%20Newsletter/2014-shopping-addiction.pdf [↩] [↩]
7. Wilczaki, Andrew Richard, “Understanding compulsive buying: The dimensions and management of addictive shopping” (2006).
   Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 186.
   https://commons.emich.edu/theses/186 [↩] [↩]
8. Black, Donald W., et al. “Pathological Gambling and Compulsive Buying: Do They Fall within an Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum?” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, vol. 12, no. 2, June 2010, pp. 175–85. PubMed Central, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181956/. [↩]
9. It often appears in multiple members of the same family. If you have this condition, your relatives are also more likely to experience depression, alcohol addiction, and other mental health issues.

   Social Norms

   Most of the time, shopping addiction appears in Western countries. This hints at a cultural source of compulsive buying. ((BLACK, DONALD W. “A Review of Compulsive Buying Disorder.” World Psychiatry, vol. 6, no. 1, Feb. 2007, pp. 14–18. PubMed Central, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1805733/. [↩]

10. Sansone, Randy A., et al. “Childhood Trauma and Compulsive Buying.” International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, vol. 17, no. 1, Feb. 2013, pp. 73–76. PubMed, https://doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2011.653379. [↩]