It is assumed that shopaholism (also known as compulsive shopping, szopoholizm, kupnoholizm, addiction to buying or shopping) is a compulsion , an inner need to buy all kinds of objects and articles (often completely unnecessary and unjustified), it is an intrusive and uncontrolled need to shop, which negatively and adversely affects the functioning of a person.

Shoppingaddiction belongs to the group of non-substance addictions - we are not dealing here with a situation of ingesting and introducing a harmful substance into the body, as is the case, for example, with alcohol or drug addiction. Shopaholism is a disorder of habits, activities and drives, in which the person feels a strong inner compulsion, a need to perform a certain activity - in this case buying. For the shopaholic, the activity of buying is a way to get rid of unpleasant tension, eliminate unpleasant psychological discomfort and provide pleasure and improve well-being. The shopping addict buys to eliminate an unpleasant, annoying condition.

Mechanism of shopping addiction

Of course, shopping, even shopping that is not entirely controlled by us and sometimes unnecessary, does not necessarily lead to an addiction. Succumbing to occasional "shopping frenzies", when we buy things spontaneously, on impulse, without planning or thinking about the sense of having them, is not evidence of our addiction. The problem begins when the act of buying becomes a habit for us, a learned response to overcoming adversity, setbacks and sorrows.

The mechanism of shopping addiction, as in the case of alcoholism, for example, begins with an innocent desire to give oneself pleasure. After all, shopping, for most of us, is a great source of entertainment and fun, we associate it with positive emotions and feelings and "successful" shopping gives us satisfaction and pleasure. Over time, as a result of the repetition of such an activity, which provides us with pleasant and pleasurable sensations, some people may become addicted to experiencing this very situation. A person with an addiction to excessive shopping identifies the act of buying with a pleasant state and every time he or she starts to feel unpleasant emotions, tensions, failures, stress, or, colloquially speaking, when he or she is unwell, seeks solace and a solution to his or her problems in a familiar pleasant activity - shopping. It is important to remember that buying a lot of things does not mean shopping addiction - it is not the number that is important here, but the mechanism, the reasons for buying. If buying a new dress, shoes, watch or gadget for the car is a source of euphoria, fulfilment, happiness, solves our problems and reduces stress, then this should be our alarm signal.