Compulsive buying disorder
[10] Emil Kraepelin described oniomania as of 1909,[11] and he and Bleuler both included the syndrome in their influential early psychiatric textbooks.
People who score highly on compulsive-buying scales tend to understand their feelings poorly and have low tolerance for unpleasant psychological states such as negative moods.
[18] Zadka and Olajossy suggest the presence of several similar tendencies between consumer-type mannerisms and pathologic consumption of psychoactive elements.
Promising treatments for CBD include medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and support groups such as Debtors Anonymous.
[21][22][23][24] Research reveals that 1.8 to 8.1 percent of the general adult population have CBD and that while the usual onset is late adolescence or early adulthood, it is often recognized as a problem later in life.
[26] Compulsive buying disorder is tightly associated with excessive or poorly managed urges related to the purchase of the items and spending of currency in any form; digital, mobile, credit or cash.
[20] The normal method of operation in a healthy brain is that the frontal cortex regulation handles the activity of reward.
[20] Compulsive buying seems to represent a search for self in people whose identity is neither firmly felt nor dependable, as indicated by the way purchases often provide social or personal identity-markers.
[33] Those with associated disorders such as PTSD/CPTSD,[34] anxiety, depression and poor impulse control are particularly likely to attempt to treat symptoms of low self-esteem through compulsive shopping.
[39] A social psychological perspective suggests that compulsive buying may be seen as an exaggerated form of a more normal search for validation through purchasing.
[40] Also, pressures from the spread of materialist values and consumer culture over the recent decades can drive people into compulsive shopping.
[41] Companies have adopted aggressive neuromarketing by associating the identification of a high social status with the purchasing of items.
[51] Individuals who can be considered addicted to shopping are observed to exhibit repetitive and obsessive urges to go buy items, especially when in the vicinity of an environment that supports this venture, such as a mall.
[20] The consequences of compulsive buying, which may persist long after a spree, can be devastating, with marriages, long-term relationships, and jobs all feeling the strain.
[52] Further problems can include ruined credit history, theft or defalcation of money, defaulted loans, general financial trouble and in some cases bankruptcy or extreme debt, as well as anxiety and a sense of life spiraling out of control.
[55][56] Hague et al. reports that group therapy rendered the highest results as far as treatment of compulsive buying disorder is concerned.
[57] Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluvoxamine and citalopram may be useful in the treatment of CBD, although current evidence is mixed.
