I’ve been haunted by questions ever since I published my first blog entry on compulsive shopping behavior. These are questions which have become all the more pertinent after the whole schizophrenia diagnosis debate. The most troubling one of which is: Should compulsive shopping behavior actually make it into the next DSM as a full-fledged mental disorder of its own?
A mental illness is characterized by having a significant, often debilitating impact on one’s life. I think that compulsive shopping behaviors fit the bill for this characteristic in some instances. For example, if you make the majority of your purchases on credit and typically don’t have the available funds to pay your credit card bill. Obviously, this would have a significant negative impact on your life by causing bad credit and/or stressing relationships with your spouse or other household members. Possibly it may eventually snowball into a situation where one is forced into bankruptcy or in extreme circumstances cause divorce or other household discord. Yes, it definitely could have a negative impact on your life, no argument there.
Second, a mental illness transcends all racial/socio-economic barriers. People in all walks of life are affected by mental illnesses. Everyone from the homeless to very wealthy individuals have the ability to develop a mental illness. This is not to say that some aren’t more susceptible to circumstances which may lead to one developing an illness; it is just to say that a very wealthy person, say Howard Hughs, could develop a mental illness like obsessive compulsive disorder, just as someone in lower socio-economic position could.
Are there any bells and whistles going off yet reader?
The problem with compulsive shopping behavior being dubbed a mental health disorder is that it cannot simultaneously fill both of these requirements. Obviously, the more money that one has, the more he/she will be able to spend before a negative impact is felt. It is possible that one is obsessively spending money on items, but that money is being replenished at a rate which supersedes the amount being spent. A characteristic of compulsive shopping behavior is “living beyond one’s means”, or buying large quantities on credit. In this way, we would never be able to diagnose a very wealthy person with obsessive shopping disorder, since the shopping itself would likely not have a significant negative impact on the person’s life, at least, not to the extent it would have on someone of a lower socio-economic status, because they would be able to pay their bills.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that obsessive shopping can be a huge problem and a debilitating behavior for some people, but until psychiatrists start putting monetary requirements/caps into the criteria for mental health disorders, I don’t think obsessive shopping disorder is going to make it into the DSM. I do believe that compulsive shopping is often times a reaction or coping strategy which is employed by people suffering from a variety of mental health problems and that we need to look deeper into the cause of the behavior to decipher the problem which is causing it. It is possible that new shoes make one feel better, but it is also possible that shopping is one’s coping strategy to deal with depression.
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7 Comments to
“Obsessive Shopping Disorder: The Poor Man’s Disease?”
I just recently read a very good article on this website about compulsive spending which hit a great big Chord inside my head. Compulsive spending is indeed able to be entered into the next DSM-V due to the fact it is a REAL sign of depression, stress, and anxiety. This alone makes it almost approaching a level of suicide possibility. I know I have almost met it! Several times! And I don’t spend ALL my income just a large part of it.
The average American does not have a compulsive spending problem. I know because a member of my family had a compulsive spending problem. We discovered her problem after she committed suicide. She committed suicide when she realized that she would not be able to spend any more money because she already had $85,000 in credit card debt within one year. When we were cleaning out her things after her death we found the same items purchased over and over and over again…never opened. We discovered a tub of name brand makeup (over 600 items all the same colors). We donated it to a woman’s shelter. We found over 300 pairs of brand new shoes. We donated at least 20 trash bags full of clothing to goodwill. We are going to try to sell the rest (at least 300 items of clothing with tags) to help pay for the funeral expenses. And I didn’t even mention the jewelry, handbags, and other items! We discovered that she was stealing from her grandparents to continue her addition. This IS a real problem and more research needs to be conducted on it.
I have been a compulsive shopper for at least 20 years. When I younger and poorer I racked up debt buying clothes that were way out of my league. I borrowed from Peter to pay Paul. I am still a compulsive shopper who buys even more, but am now able to afford the purchases without hardship. It doesn’t help. I am still plagued by guilt and self loathing over this. I feel selfish as I feel I am using up an disproportionate amount of family resources. I don’t hide it and have asked my husband to help me by someone putting limits on my spending but he is unconcerned as we can afford it. I don’t think that one’s financial ability should play a part in defining this as a psychiatric condition. It is obviously caused by some deep seated inadequacies that I am still trying to figure out. It definitely gives me a rush at purchase followed by depression. It’s a vicious cycle.
i am very poor man i am not tell long story please help me thank you
In my ever so humble opinion, the only real difference between someone in a lower income bracket and someone in a higher income bracket is the following:
1. The crisis point would occur sooner for someone in the lower income bracket, unless they were choosing to buy items of a smaller value.
2. There crisis would be larger and more prolonged even if treated for a person in a lower income bracket. Someone with a higher income can rebound easier because they can usually regain their essentials. Whereas the lower income earner may not even make enough income to cover what people would consider the essential living costs, let alone restart.
I think that people with compulsive shopping or people that buy things for no real reason are searching for something they can’t buy - Peace.
Try getting closer to God. It’s worth a try. It worked for me.
Um, I wanted to know how many people have this mental thing or whatever…I’m doing a research on this and I would really like to know how many people suffer this, just like an estimate of course. Maybe a percentage of the american shoppers. Thanks.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Oct 2006
