My Compulsive Buying/Shopping Addiction Experience Part 1
I understand that this may strike some as a frivolous problem compared to other addictions, but Compulsive Buying/Shopping Disorder (CBD) can be just as harmful and lead to serious repercussions. This is my personal experience and I just want others to know they are not alone. I plan on making this a series because there is simply too much information to put into one post, so this will be the beginning and Part 1 of my story.
We have to start with background information because it is essential to the entire story and shopping addiction is just as real as any other addiction. Although it's not officially described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it is suggested that compulsive shopping disorder, also known as compulsive buying disorder, is either a type of impulse control disorder, a behavioral addiction or possibly even related to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Keeping that in mind, we can move on to clinical information that may aid us in understanding this disorder a little bit more.
To begin with, “Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by excessive shopping cognitions and buying behavior that leads to distress or impairment. Found worldwide, the disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 5.8% in the US general population” (NCBI). This study by Donald W Black really gave me the resources I needed to explain how prevalent CBD is and motivated me to tell my story. It is also stated that “clinical surveys suggest that 80% to 95% of persons with CBD are women”(Black). Clearly the gender difference is real and not just something that men weren’t included in or underrepresented. Age was also was taken into consideration during this study and “The age of onset of CBD appears to be in the late teens or early twenties” (Black). I am currently 24 so this makes sense. Finally, “There is some evidence that CBD runs in families and that within these families mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders are excessive” (Black). I have generalized anxiety disorder and mild obsessive compulsive disorder which I take medication for. Now that we know more of the epidemiology we can move along to clinical symptoms.
Signs and symptoms of CBD range from person to person just like any other disease or disorder, but luckily it paints a picture of who we truly are. This picture may be different for everyone but the idea is the same, and thats where we find the similarities that can help us understand our own pictures. So, “persons with CBD are preoccupied with shopping and spending, and devote significant time to these behaviors…the author's personal observation is that the two aspects - shopping and spending - are intertwined. Persons with CBD often describe an increasing level of urge or anxiety that can only lead to a sense of completion when a purchase is made” (Black). I feel that shopping and spending could completely be intertwined, for myself it was when I received and had the purchase that I felt the gratification. I also usually would shop exclusively by myself also meaning online shopping, or with someone who I really trust.
In a study of 44 subjects with CBD Black reported that “greater severity was associated with lower gross income, less likelihood of having an income above the median, and spending a lower percentage of income on sale items. These data suggest that the most severe forms of CBD are found in persons with low incomes who have little ability to control or to delay their urge to make impulsive purchases”. I personally can tell you that I hardly had income while I was in college and I relied heavily on my parents for financial support. I was the perfect example of CBD and to an extent still am.
I cannot bring myself to deny that any or all of these points are true for myself and it sucks honestly. Just knowing that I am a spitting image for CBD is hard, but bite, chew, swallow, and repeat because that’s the truth. There’s no doubt it my mind after seeing percentages of other people struggling with this addiction that it is completely valid, and it’s not just another “retail therapy” joke. When I see the proof in front of me I’ll do anything to change my outcome for the better, and that’s what I’m doing. Next week I will post Part 2 which will cover psychiatric comorbidity, etiology, and assessment of CBD.
Sources Cited
Black, Donald W. “A Review of Compulsive Buying Disorder.” World Psychiatry : Official Journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), Masson Italy, Feb. 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1805733/
“Recovery is something that you have to work on every single day and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.”