Is It Holiday Shopping or Compulsive Spending?

"For many, holidays bring the joy of giving and the need to shop for the right gift for the right person. For the 5% of adults who are compulsive shoppers (sometimes termed compulsive buyers), the holiday is a trigger to compulsive behavior that ultimately brings much more pain than joy. Who Are Compulsive Shoppers? According to April Lane Benson, author of To Buy or Not to Buy (2008), compulsive shoppers can be anyone."

"Over years of clinical work, I have found that the actual profile of the shopaholic or compulsive buyer is not a set one. It can include a teacher who never opens the boxes of her constant online purchases; the senior who fills his home with garage-sale radios, TVs, and specialized tools; the businessman with escalating online art purchases; and the suburbanite with an ever-growing collection of jewelry she will never wear."

"The Signs of Compulsive Shopping Compulsive shopping is shopping that impacts your life in an increasingly negative way but which you can't stop. It involves: Shopping for things you don't need with money you don't have. Shopping in excess-100 watches, 200 pairs of shoes. Shopping only to return, give away, or otherwise never use the items purchased. Shopping or spending at the cost of family, job, or other life experiences. Shopping that brings with it upset, guilt, or shame."

Compulsive shopping affects about 5% of adults and often intensifies during holidays, turning gift-giving into a trigger for harmful behavior. Compulsive shoppers include diverse profiles across genders and occupations, buying items ranging from clothing to electronics or collectibles. The behavior involves intense anticipation, temporary elation at purchase, followed by despair and a drive to shop again. Common signs include buying things not needed with insufficient funds, excessive collections, purchasing only to return or never use items, and spending that damages family, work, or legal and financial standing.

Read at Psychology Today