Overspenders and shopoholics beware! Christmas is over but still another wave of sales is rising. I caution you this reading this article may dampen your penchant for shopping.
According to several studies conducted recently, compulsive buying occurs between 5 to 10 percent of the population. Another 12 to 25 percent people struggle with overspending. They overspend and regret later.
Holidays compound the problem of impulsive and compulsive buying. It is estimated that during the holiday season, we incur 40% of our annual debt. In a study conducted by Dr. Gary Christenson and his colleagues, compulsive shoppers, on average, spent 50 % of their household income on paying debts from compulsive buying. Why do we buy more than we need or can afford? What happens inside our hearts and minds that articles on the stores' shelves become so irresistible? Is shopping a sort of self-medication for underlying depression?
Psychologists think that buying enlivens our holiday spirit. Somehow, filling in the bags with material articles quells our feelings of emptiness. As these holidays are times of joy, so are they a cause of stress, sorrow, and a sense of loneliness. According to Olivia Mellan, author of Overcoming Overspending, holidays are can stir old hurts, longings and sadness.
Mellan has formulated a few questions that may indicate a problem regarding compulsive shopping. Here are a few pertinent questions:
- Do you buy things you want, whether or not you can afford them at the time?
- Do you buy things to cheer yourself up?
- Do you feel intensely deprived, angry, or upset when you have to say no to yourself or put off something you want?
- Are you perpetually in deep debt because of overspending?
- Does shopping give you a temporary emotional "lift," a kind of euphoria?
The urges for buying occur in "phases" from every few days to once a week, semi-monthly or monthly. Urges typically last one hour. Buying urges typically occur at home or while driving by the stores and malls. The urge is accompanied by tension and unease which is only released by the act of shopping. However, the gratification of the buying urge is followed by guilt, anger, sadness or,. indifference.
Compulsive shopping has been given a fanciful name by some researchers, a "consuming passion." The name is a misnomer. It is not a passion about consuming, but about acquiring. In one study, more than half of the compulsive buyers reported that they never even removed the purchased items from their packaging, returned purchases, or disposed of the items without ever personally consuming them.