Introduction Retail Therapy Apparently, humans have managed to create a new disorder. It is a behavioural problem that can do some real damage. However, unlike other self-damaging behaviours such as excessive tanning or smoking, this one is not likely to put sufferers in the hospital. Instead, this disorder sends them to the store. “Oniomania” is the technical term for what they are suffering from, and it has nothing to do with onions. People know it better as compulsive shopping disorder (CSD) or shopaholism. Sufferers shop to “keep up with the Joneses,” to lower anxiety, and to put excitement into their “boring” lives. First Supportive Paragraph One of the first reasons people shop compulsively is to keep up with real or imaginary peers. Perhaps low self-esteem drives this competitive shopping. People believe that if they buy more things they will be more appreciated by others. Moreover this opinion is widely promoted by the Instagram community or other social media. For example Pinterest is a place where you get so inspired, you want to buy absolutely everything. But , filling the shopping cart does not fill up the holes in someone’s self-esteem. It only hides the issue behind the amount of items purchased. No matter what kind of clothes you chose, no matter how often you do that, you will always want more. Mostly, compulsive shopping results in an even lower sense of self-worth when the shopper faces bills he or she cannot pay. Imagine a life at the end of the month with no money to buy food. It can be pretty stressful. And what can a stressful shopaholic do to cope with that? Shop more. Second Supportive Paragraph More often than they mention the need to “keep up,” shopaholics say that shopping lowers anxiety. In other words shopping becomes an ideal escape into the world where worries do not exist. They don’t have to admit their issues, just to go to a shop in order to feel better. They frequently say a sense of relief, a relaxed “floating feeling” comes over them when they start shopping. And when shopaholics are already in the process they forget all their troubles and give in to the temptation completely. “Floating feeling’ makes them believe it is never going to end. But over time, relief gives way to even more anxiety resulting from bills they cannot pay. In the end shopaholics are back to right where they started. This is a vicious circle that shopaholics don’t even notice. Third Supportive Paragraph Most often, though, the blanket response to questions about excessive shopping is that it relieves boredom. Boredom makes us do crazy things however, in this case shopping is presented as a simple distraction and not as addiction that it truly is. This can be dangerous. As well, shoppers eagerly turn to all forms of advertising and promotion, saying these beat boredom by helping them to anticipate new things to shop for. Even though they are just being manipulated by companies. Do you remember the last time you were talking about something out load and 5 minutes later an Instagram ad popped up with an appropriate offer? It is helping you on the one hand and seducing you on the other. Finally, the sheer simplicity of consuming—go to a store or go online, see something, and buy it—makes shopping an easy diversion to turn to whenever time moves too slowly. However everybody knows that avoiding has never resolved any problems. ___________________________________________________________________ Conclusion Whether CSD is really a new disorder by itself, or just a new response to low selfesteem, anxiety, or boredom, it has become such a widespread problem that organizations like Shopaholics Anonymous have come into being. Shopaholism, in fact, affects more than just those afflicted and their families; growing levels of credit-card debt raise interest rates for everyone.
