During the pandemic, millions of people turned to the internet to order groceries, household supplies and other goods they’d typically purchase in person. Our phones and laptops became sanitary havens of commerce. But for some people, online shopping easily transforms from a convenient consumer strategy into an excessive, harmful behavior.
Is Compulsive Buying Disorder Real?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders doesn’t officially classify shopping addiction (or, more technically, “compulsive buying” or “oniomania”) as a disorder. Nevertheless, professionals have recognized it as a problem for more than a century — the influential German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin first described it in the early 1900s.
How Prevalent Is Compulsive Shopping?
Compulsive shopping has only grown more effortless with the advent of computers. Today, surveys suggest 6 percent of Americans (many of them younger people) struggle to control their spending, and that many prefer to buy via the internet. “Online shopping is easy,” says Melissa Norberg, an associate professor of psychology at Macquarie University. “It’s right there at home, and you’re stuck there. Let’s see what Amazon has to offer me.”
