Do you like to go shopping? Do you feel better when after a sad day you spend an afternoon shopping? Peaceful. That does not mean that you have oniomania or that obsession with purchases that worries us so much. Oniomania is a psychological disorder that can ruin (in all its meanings) your life. We tell you everything you need to know about the obsession with shopping in our dictionary of hobbies.
What is oniomania
Oniomania is the obsession with shopping. It is what is known as buying compulsively to reduce the anxiety you feel. You see a product on the Internet or in a shop window and suddenly feel the need to buy it. That product and several more, since you are. You know that your nervousness and discomfort will not disappear until you acquire it.
And it doesn’t matter if you don’t need it, if you already have something similar at home or even if you can’t afford it, because you will do whatever it takes to buy it. At that moment buying becomes a disease and the high degree of anxiety that the whole situation generates in you is what gives it the character of a mania.
Oniomania symptoms
- We insist that you may like to go shopping or that you are one of those people who throw the house out of the window at Christmas or in the sales season, but you do not have to suffer from oniomania. This disease is close in its symptoms and in its way of acting to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
- The action of buying appears as a necessity to alleviate discomfort. A discomfort in the form of frustration for not having that product and in the form of nervousness with all the symptoms of anxiety that will not stop until you do what you think is your only option: buy.
- And after buying it what? After that compulsive purchase of something you didn’t need, a deep disappointment appears. The emotional collapse after that high peak of happiness that the purchase produced for you. That an act like buying takes you on an emotional roller coaster means that something is wrong, don’t you think?
Consequences of oniomania
Oniomania must be taken seriously because it has dangerous consequences for the life of the person who suffers from it. The most obvious is financial ruin, since almost no one can afford to buy compulsively. When you start to ask for loans or the family accounts do not add up, you should ask for help.
It also falls into a psychological wreck. In oniomania, buying is like an addiction, it is a real necessity and it is the only thing that will alleviate (momentarily) your state of anxiety before buying. It works exactly the same as other types of addictions, and we already know that having one addiction in life attracts many others.
How to deal with shopping obsession
- Be careful, because we are facing a serious disorder that must be treated by a professional. Cognitive behavioral therapy will help to find the origin of this mania and from there it will work to modify the compulsive behavior. You will not overcome oniomania overnight, but you will discover the miracles that this team that you form the therapy and yourself are capable of.
- Of course there are some things that you can keep in mind to help in the psychological treatment of oniomania, some tricks that can minimize the consequences. Going shopping on public transport, for example, will prevent you from loading yourself with unnecessary bags, prohibiting you from going shopping when you are very nervous and waiting for it to pass, or sticking to a list that you have previously prepared.