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Oniomania  **o****⋅****ni****⋅****o****⋅****ma****⋅****ni****⋅****a**   [oh-nee-uh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh]  Compulsive shopping; an uncontrollable desire to buy things.



   Everybod y shops. But for some people, walking out of a store with something new provides a thrill of no other. Compulsive shopping disorder or Oniomania **//(Greek Onios= “for sale,” mania= insanity)//** is a medical term for the compulsive desire to shop. It is often referred to as compulsive buying, shopping addiction, or shopaholism. Oniomania was first termed by  German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin in 1915, and later quoted by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, in his  1924 Textbook of Psychiatry. Bleuler believed that oniomaniacs always involves women, “The usual frivolous debt makers, and who in this way wish to get the means for pleasure.” Compulsive buying leads to senseless contraction of debts with continuous delay of payment until a catastrophe clears the s<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ituation (Bleuler). Both Kraepelin and Bleuler considered compulsive buying an example of a reactive impulse,<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> or impulsive insanity, and grouped it alongside kleptomania and pyromania (Holander and Stein 204). Despite this early discovery, few psychiatrists held any interest in the disorder until the early late twentieth centur<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> y, when three ind <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ependent clinic al case series involving a total of 90 subjects were published (Tavares). While the cost of the disorder has nev <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> er been calculated, it has been estimated that im <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> pulse buying generates over $4 billion in annual sales in North America (Tavares). Bleuler writes, “that the particular element in oniomania is impulsiveness; they cannot help it, which sometimes even expresses itself in the fact that patients are incapable to think differently and to envision the senseless consequences of their act, and the possibilities of not doing it” (Tavares). For an oniomanica, consuming is a nature just like how a caterpillar devours a leaf (Tavares. ) Oniomania is a compulsive buying disorder; it is an addiction or chronic tendency to purchase products far in excess of a person’s needs and resources (Bryner).

Everyone has the desire to consume. Whether it is for food, clothing, or digital devices, we are all consumers by nature. However, when consuming goes out of hand, it becomes a concern because it can lead to a clinical disorder. The act of buying originated from ancient Greece, where the emergence of money changed cultural and moral values (Tavares). Power was determined not by family name, but by commerce, which was greatly enhanced by the adoption of monetary systems. Today, we live in a society that is driven by consumers But what makes shopping so dangerous, is the fact that it can easily go out of hand and when it does it can affect our lives: emotionally and physically. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**What is Oniomania?**

Oniomania is an addiction and is much like any physical addiction. Individuals who shop compulsively get a non-chemical “high” similar to a drug addict (Coons). Oniomaniacs are addicted to consuming and when they are not shopping, they go through a form of withdrawal and cannot stop thinking about spending more money. According to Hollander, some investigators have suggested that compulsive shopping is si<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> milar to drug or alcohol addiction. While others suggest that it is similar to OCD, impulse control, and mood and anxiet <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> y disorders (Hollander and Stein 205). The classification of Oniomania remains elusive. There is currently little evidence to favor its classification as an addiction, an obsessive compulsive spectrum or mood disorder (Hollander and Stein 205). It is not included in contemporary medical journals, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), or the World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases (Tavares). Oniomania is often termed by psychiatrist as a disorder, but it has only been recognized by the //Deutsche Gesellschaft Zwangserkrankungen// (German organization for obsessive-compulsive disorders). Thus, it is not medically a legitimate disorder but doctors and experts are considering officially terming it as a separate specific Impulse Control Disorder in the next edition of the //Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.//

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Symptoms**

According to Hollander there are several definitions available for compulsive shopping:
 * Consumer Behaviorists Faber and O’Guinn define the disorder as “chronic buying episodes of a somewhat fashion in which the consumer feels unable to stop or significantly moderate his behavior”
 * Edwards suggests that it is a “abnormal form of shopping and spending in which the afflicted consumer has an overpowering uncontrollable, chronic and repetitive urgent to shop and spend as a means of alleviating negative feeling of stress and anxiety”

McElroy developed a definition for both clinical and research use:

1. Maladaptive preoccupation with buying or shopping, or maladaptive buying or shopping impulses or behavior as indicated by at least one of the following:
 * Frequent preoccupation<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> with buying or impulses to buy that are experienced as irresistible, intrusive, and/or senseless
 * Frequent buying or more than can be afforded, frequent buying of items that are not needed, or shopping for longer periods of time than intended

2. The buying preoccupation, impulses, or behaviors cause marked distress, are time consuming, significantly interfere with social or occupational functioning, or result in financial problems (e.g indebtedness or bankruptcy)

3. The excessive buying or shopping behavior does nto occur exclusively during periods of hypomania or mania

// Source. McElroy S, keck Jr PE, Pope Jr HG, et al.: “Compulsive Buying: A Report of 20 Cases.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 55:242-248, 1994. Copyright 1994, Physicians postgraduate Press. //

It doesn’t take a dictionary or medical journal to diagnose what an oniomanic is. Common signs such as excessive hoarding of unopened purchases, credit card debt, or bags of clothes with price tags still on are all signs of compulsive buying activity. Victims often spend unthinkable amounts on things they don’t need and sometimes never touch the items. They tend to hide the items that they buy and deny that they have a problem. “They also tend to not be excited about what the <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> y are buying, but instead on just the act of buying it” (Coons).

//Oniomania// remains a newly researched topic in comparison to other mental addictions such as alcoholism, eating disorders, drug abuse, pyromania, and internet addiction. Some researchers have considered Compulsive Buying disorder (CBD) as an addictive disorder while others consider it a obs essive- compulsive, or mood disorder spectrum. Writers have criticized attempts to categorize CBD as a disorder, which they see as part of a trend to "medicalize" behavioral problems. This approach ignores the reality of CBD, and stigmatizes attempts to understand or treat the condition (Tavares). McElroy establishes that oniomania is a cognitive and behavioral dilemma and can manifest through social, marital, occupational, personal, financial, and legal problems (Hollander and Stein 206).

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Causes**

//"Compulsive buyers have usually fairly irresistible impulses that they can't control, and it leads to some kind of harm, either financial or occupational or interpersonal or some combination” April Lane Benson//

Just like any other compulsive behaviors, oniomaniacs experience the highs and lows associated with addiction. They feel a sense of relief or satisfaction because purchasing gives victims a sense of meaning to their life and help them forget about their sorrows. Thus, if victims stop they leave their comfort zone and the feeling of a personal reward disappears. Thus, to compensate they shop again. Shopping becomes a comfort for the victim. Onimaniacs easily fall into a vicious circle that consists of negative emotions like anger and stress, and in order to relieve their sorrow they end up purchasing something (Coons). After the buying is over, they become depressed and emotional and in order to cope they resort to another purchase. Thus, victims fall into a vicious cycle where they struggle emotionally with their mental state.

Oniomania often begins at an early age. Children who experience negligence often grow up with low esteem. As a result, they use toys to compensate for their feelings of loneliness. Many victims of oniomania are unable to deal with their everyday problems, especially those that alter their self esteem. Thus, a way for oniomaniacs to escap<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> e reality is through the material world.

Social conditions also play an important role. As mentioned above, our society is fueled by a consumerist economy where buying is an important part of our daily lives. The credit or “magic” card facilitate the spending of money as well as online shopping and mail order via catalogues. What makes oniomania different from healthy shopping is the fact that it is compulsive and can lead to destructiveness when it comes to buying. The need to constantly buy something is often linked to emotional deprivation, and inability to tolerate negative feelings, as well as the need to fill an internal void, excitement seeking, excessive dependency, approval seeking, perfectionism, impulsiveness and compulsiveness, and the need to gain control (DeSarbo and Edwards 1996, Faber et al. 1987, Benson, 2000).

In some cases, shopping is a constant leisure or recreational activity where people seek to find comfort or indulgence when they buy something. Ofcourse, we cannot say that all compulsive shoppers are oniomanicas because many people shop for different reasons. For some, it is a pleasure to constantly buy something so that they can live up to a certain standard and be accepted. For others, it is the need to have everything they want so that they can fill complete. However, the constant need to buy something is never-ending for oniomaniacs. Because when they don’t buy something, the feeling of incompleteness creeps back. It is exactly like an addiction. Shopping provides a momentary euphoria for compulsive shoppers. It is a form of self medication and comfort. It can be argued that shopping brings a certain degree of joy and happiness to our lives, but for oniomaniacs shopping is a cure to bolster their self esteem because hopping becomes a daily routine in their lives. The irony is, when oniomaniacs fall into this vicious cycle, they fall into a deeper pit where they constantly have to fill in an empty gap and as a result, their emotions double and it becomes difficult for them to reverse their way of life.

//“It’s like have an itch and they have got to scratch it. And they don’t realize that just like an itch, if they don’t scratch it sooner or later the itch will go away.” – Benson on Compulsive shopping//

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Consequences**

The biggest problem that lies within oniomania is the fact that our society encourages the idea of consumption. Consumers are constantly encouraged to purchase things. Thus, consumption is a highly encouraged behavior because we live in society where our economy is fueled by consumption. The fact is, there is a fine line between consuming and over consuming. Thus, when people do not acknowledge the fact that over consumption is bad, it can lead to many consequences. Because oniomania is like an addiction, it is a hard habit to break and if left untreated, compulsive shopping can wreck a person’s life. Compulsive shopping is like suicide, victims financially ruin themselves and often have no way out. Once there is no money, they go into debt and while in debt, they become emotionally distressed. It is very challenging to succumb to our desires, and for oniomaniacs it requires mental work to overcome their shopping desire. Financially it is a huge toil but most importantly, if victims let their desire run their lives, then it can get in the way of their personal and social relations and emotionally crush them. Victims often run up huge credit card bills, and resort to taking out second mortgages and declaring bankruptcy. Some are even driven to suicide (Strkyer). The point of the buying is not to have, but to enjoy the pleasures of shopping, explains Lorrin M. Koran, a psychiatrist at Stanford Medical School. But the high that compulsive shoppers experience is often followed by guilt and shame (Strkyer).

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Cure**

Just like any drug addiction, it is impossible to treat and cure an oniomaniac. Taking away a victim’s credit card or accompanying the person when they go shopping is no remedy to this problem. The way to approach this problem is not to take away everything a patient has, but instead slowly impose limits on how they spend and what they do. For example, freezing up their credit card can only lead to much bigger problems. Emotionally victims can be crushed and they will try and find alternate solutions. It is important that victims acknowledge their problem instead of denying it. When victims acknowledge that they have a problem, they take a step in recognizing that they do need help and that help is an option. Victims should be given the chance to redeem themselves because just like any addiction, it takes a lot to change a habit. Just like smoking, drugs, or alcohol an addiction is a way for victims to escape reality and a find solace. Thus, many victims will often deny that they have a problem because shopping is a cure to their fear. For victims to say, “Hey, I do have a problem” it takes a significant amount of courage and belief because in way, victims are giving in to their pleasure and comfort. Therefore, victims cannot miraculously turn their life around in a matter of seconds, because the cure is a process that requires a great amount of determination and belief. Just imagine taking away something that is a routine or a part of your life. It’s like losing something that you have grown attached to. There are many support groups that help compulsive shoppers such as Debtors Anonymous, Recovery Connection for Addiction Treatment, Shopping Addicts Only, or Stopping Overshopping Group Telephone Coaching Program. Victims also have the option of seeing a psychiatrist or taking antidepressant drugs. “Lorrin Koran of Stanford has conducted a clinical trial to see whether antidepressant drugs might help shopping addicts. (Of the 21 people in the trial's pilot study, 3 had declared bankruptcy; 4 had shopped their way to divorce” (Stryker).

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Stats**

In 2006, Stanford University researchers reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry that about 5.8% of the US population can be said to have “compuslve buying behavior, “characterized by an abnormal preoccupation with shopping, purchasing of unnecessary items and adverse consequences, like "impaired social or occupational functioning, and/or financial problems." A random survey of 2,513 people, indicated that compulsive shopping affects men and women almost equally -- about 6% of women and 5.5% of men (Dodes). Compulsive buyers tend to be younger (mean age 39.7 years, as opposed to 48.7 years for other respondents in the survey), and earn under $50,000 a year (Dodes). In December 2008, the Journal of Consumer Research published another study of compulsive buying and found that compulsive buyers in the US are 8.9% higher (Dodes). This time 1,200 people were surveyed the results indicated that shoppers are more likely to be anxious, materialistic, have low self-esteem and harbor negative feelings that are relieved by shopping (Dodes).

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Conclusion**

Imagine having all the money in the world and being able to spend that on anything you want. Imagine if everyone spoke Prada or had a “magic card” How convenient would life be if we could all get what we want. Truth is, our desires often are the force that drives our need to consume. However, when that desire goes out of hand, it creates a dangerous and risky playing field. Oniomania may be a technical term that many of us don’t recognize, but the meaning behind it is easily recognizable. Shopping is a completely acceptable behavior, especially when we live in a society that is driven by consumers. The fact that everything is so consumer demanded makes it harder for people to recognize the problem with over consuming. It is understandable that for some people, shopping is a remedy to their daily problems. It is a way of escapism. Victims indulge themselves in the euphemism of temporarily satisfaction, were they are not depressed or angry. For some, shopping is just a compulsive behavior where buying something because a natural instinct (just like eating, talking, reading etc). So, when the red light is pulled, it becomes extremely difficult for compulsive buyers to stop a behavior that has become an addiction. Whether oniomania is a widely recognizable disorder or not, it is important to know that anything can be an addiction. Addiction to shopping is more so an emotional and psychological disorder. But the danger to it can crush someone. It may sound crazy to hear that shopping is an addiction but truth be told, many people suffer from this condition. For some, eating is an addiction and others the need to consistently consume something is way of relief and contentment. Compulsive buying does not just happen to women but also to men. This addiction can happen to anyone, anytime, and anywhere. We all deal with our problems in different ways and shopping is one of them. Just make sure that if you are taking shopping out of control, make sure that you are financially capable of doing so, and if not, seek help. Ask yourself what is it that you need, if you need it, and why you need it. The scary part is when victims lose themselves to their addiction, because their desire ultimately takes over their lives and when this happens, they will continuously struggle to fill in that empty gap through consuming and purchasing things.

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">
 * References**

Benson, A. I Shop Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying & the Search for Self, NewYork: Jason Aronson. 2000.

Bleuler, E. Textbook of Psychiatry. New York: Macmillan, 1924.

Coons, Laura. "Oniomania: A Shopping Addiction - Associated Content." __Associated__ __Content - associatedcontent.com__. 28 Nov. 2006. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/88500/oniomania_a_shopping_addiction.h

Dodes, Rachel. "This Year, More Than Ever, It's Tough to Be a Compulsive Shopper – WSJ.com." __Business News, Finance News, World, Political & Sports News from__ __The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com__. 15 Dec. 2008. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122930336551605629.html>. Kraepelin, E. Psychiatrie (8th ed.). Leipzig: Verlag von Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1915. Hunter, Jessica. "Are You A Compulsive Shopper?." __Credit Card Tips, Etc.__. 29 Aug. 2006. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://www.creditcardtipsetc.com/are_you_a_compulsive_shopper.ht

McElroy, SL, Phillips KA, Keck PE, Jr. “Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorder.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; 55[10, suppl]: 33-51,1994

Tavares, Hermano, Daniela Sabbatini S Lobo, Daniel Fuentes, and Donald Black. "Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria - Compulsive buying disorder: a review and a Case Vignette." __SciELO - Scientific electronic library online__. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462008000500004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en>.

"Oniomania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oniomania>.

Stryker, Jeff. "New York Times." __The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia__. 21 July 2002. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E05E6DB1F39F932A15754C0A9 <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Images **

http://frogsmoke.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/coco%20chanel%201960s.jpg http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/07/chanel_bags2web,0.jpg http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/8/876/1MCJ000Z/shopping.jpg http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/l/lu/lusi/512327_go_shopping_1.jpg http://www.rendezvoushotels.com.au/brisbane/images/shopping.jpg http://blogs.nypost.com/fashion/photos/highend_bags3.jpg https://www.mcssl.com/merchantLogos/81785/shopaholic.jpg Further Readings **
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">

Are you a Compulsive Shopper? http://www.fool.com/specials/2001/specials10112001.htm

Confessions of A Compulsive Shopper http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2005/08/01/8267038/index.htm

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