Oniomania (from Greek Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning the Archaic , Classical (c. 5th–4th centuries BC), and Hellenistic (c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD) periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek. Its Hellenistic phase is known as Koine (& onios = "for sale," mania = insanity^[1]) is a term for the compulsive desire to shop. Oniomania is the technical term for the compulsive desire to shop, more commonly referred to as compulsive shopping, compulsive buying, shopping addiction or shopaholism. All of these are considered to be either clinical addictions or impulse control disorders, depending on the clinical source: First described by Kraepelin in 1915,^{[page needed]} and then Bleuler in 1924,^{[page needed]} as oneomania from the Greek oneomai, to buy, included among other pathological and reactive impulses, compulsive buying went largely ignored for nearly sixty years.

Disorders

Psychiatrists A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry and is certified in treating mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy. As part of their evaluation of the patient, psychiatrists are one of the few mental health professionals who may prescribe psychiatric medication, conduct physical^[who?] often call oniomania a compulsive disorder or addiction The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user himself, but it has only been accepted as a disorder by the Deutsche Gesellschaft Zwangserkrankungen (German organization for obsessive-compulsive disorders), for several years^[2].^{[unreliable source?]} In the United States, impulsive-compulsive buying behavior may be diagnosed as an Impulse control disorder Impulse control disorder is a set of psychiatric disorders including intermittent explosive disorder , kleptomania (stealing), pathological gambling, pyromania (fire-starting), and three Body-focused repetitive or compulsive behaviors of trichotillomania (a compulsion to pull one's hair out), onychophagia (compulsive nail biting) and - Not Otherwise Specified in the DSM-IV-TR.^{[3][page needed]} It may be under consideration for inclusion as a separate specific Impulse-Control Disorder in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. It is used in the United States and in varying degrees around the world, by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies,.^{[citation needed]}

Only in the past twenty years has specific and persistent inquiry into the disorder occurred.^{[citation needed]} Although the study of compulsive buying is still in its infancy compared with some of its psychological siblings^{[citation needed]}—alcoholism Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disabling addictive disorder. It is characterized by compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol despite its negative effects on the drinker's health, relationships, and social standing. Like other drug addictions, alcoholism is medically defined as a treatable disease. The term ", eating disorders Eating disorders are a group of conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and emotional health, binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa being the most common specific forms in the United States, Though primarily or drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts. The terms have a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or—there is more and more evidence that it poses a serious and worsening problem, one with significant emotional, social, occupational, and financial consequences.^{[citation needed]} As many as 8.9 percent of the American population may be full-fledged compulsive buyers. (Ridgway, et al., 2008)^{[page needed]}, and the problem is fast becoming a global one.^{[citation needed]}

The terms compulsive shopping, compulsive buying, and compulsive spending are often used interchangeably,^{[citation needed]} but the behaviors they represent are in fact distinctly different (Nataraajan and Goff 1992)^{[page needed]}. However, one may buy without shopping or certainly shop without buying. Most current researchers^[who?] use the term compulsive buying and subscribe to an exceptionally specific definition proposed by McElroy and her colleagues (1994) as follows^{[page needed]}:

1. Compulsive buying is a maladaptive Adaptive behavior is a type of behavior that is used to adjust to another type of behavior or situation. This is often characterized by a kind of behavior that allows an individual to substitute an unconstructive or disruptive behavior to something more constructive. These behaviors are most often social or personal behaviors. For example a preoccupation with buying or shopping, or maladaptive buying or shopping impulses or behavior, as indicated by either: frequent preoccupation with buying or impulses to buy that is/are experienced as irresistible, intrusive, and/or senseless, or frequent buying items that are not needed or cannot be afforded or shopping for longer periods of time than intended.

2. The buying preoccupations, impulses, or behaviors cause marked distress, are time-consuming, significantly interfere with social or occupational functioning, or result in financial problems, and they do not occur exclusively during periods of hypomania Hypomania is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood, as well as thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such a mood state. Individuals in a hypomanic state also have a decreased need for sleep and rest, are extremely outgoing and competitive, and have a great deal of energy. However, unlike with or mania Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. The word derives from the Greek "μανία" , "madness, frenzy" and that from the verb "μαίνομαι" (mainomai), "to be mad, to rage, to be.

Symptoms

Similar to other compulsive behaviors, sufferers often experience the highs and lows associated with addiction The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user himself.^{[citation needed]} Victims often experience moods of satisfaction when they are in the process of purchasing^{[citation needed]}, which seems to give their life meaning while letting them forget about their sorrows.^{[citation needed]} Once leaving the environment where the purchasing occurred, the feeling of a personal reward has already gone.^{[citation needed]} To compensate, the addicted person goes shopping again.^{[citation needed]} Eventually a feeling of suppression will overcome the person.^{[citation needed]} For example, cases have shown^[which?] that the bought goods will be hidden or destroyed, because the person concerned feels ashamed of their addiction and tries to conceal it.^{[citation needed]}

Causes

Personal

The addicted person gets into a vicious circle that consists of negative emotions like anger Anger is a feeling related to one's perception of having been offended/wronged and a tendency to undo that wrongdoing by retaliation. R. Novaco recognized three modalities of anger: cognitive , somatic-affective (tension and agitations) and behavioral (withdrawal and antagonism). Anger may have physical correlates such as increased heart rate, and stress Stress is a term in psychology and biology, first coined in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become a commonplace of popular parlance. It refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined, which lead to purchasing something.^{[citation needed]} After the buying is over, the person is either regretful Regret is a negative conscious and emotional reaction to personal past acts and behaviors. Regret is often felt when someone feels sadness, shame, embarrassment, depression, annoyance or guilt after committing an action or actions that the person later wishes that he or she had not done. Regret is distinct from guilt, which is a deeply emotional or depressed Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines a depressed person as experiencing feelings of sadness, helplessness and hopelessness. In traditional colloquy, feeling "depressed" is often synonymous with feeling "sad", but both clinical depression.^{[citation needed]} In order to cope with the feelings, the addicted person resorts to another purchase.^{[citation needed]}

Shopaholism often begins at an early age.^{[citation needed]} Children who experience parental neglect often grow up with low self-esteem Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. Self-esteem can apply specifically to a particular dimension (for example, "I believe I am a good writer, and feel proud of that in because throughout much of their childhood Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood (play age), middle childhood (school age), and adolescence (post-puberty) they experienced that they were not important as a person.^{[citation needed]} As a result, they used toys to compensate for their feelings of loneliness One of the first recorded uses of the word "lonely" was in William Shakespeare's Coriolanus, "Though I go alone, like a lonely dragon..." Act IV Scene 1.^{[citation needed]} Adults that have depended on materials for emotional support when they were much younger are more likely to become addicted to shopping because of the ongoing sentiment of deprivation The term maternal deprivation is a catch-phrase summarising the early work of psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, John Bowlby on the effects of separating infants and young children from their mother although the effect of loss of the mother on the developing child had been considered earlier by Freud and other theorists. Bowlby's work on delinquent they endured as children.^{[citation needed]} During adulthood An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age. In human context, the term has other subordinate meanings associated to social and legal concepts, for example a legal adult is a legal concept for a person who has attained the age of, the purchase instead of the toy is substituted for affection Affection is a "disposition or state of mind or body" that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning: emotion ; disease; influence; state of being (philosophy); and state of mind (psychology). "Affection" is popularly used to denote a.^{[citation needed]} Shopaholics are unable to deal with their everyday problems, especially those that alter their self-esteem. Most of the issues in their lives are repressed by buying something.^{[citation needed]}

This disorder is often linked to emotional deprivations in childhood, an inability to tolerate negative feelings, the need to fill an internal void, excitement seeking, excessive dependency, approval seeking, perfectionism Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists, general impulsiveness and compulsiveness, and the need to gain control (DeSarbo and Edwards 1996, Faber et al. 1987, Benson, 2000)^{[page needed]}. Compulsive buying seems to represent a search for self in people whose identity is neither firmly felt nor dependable.^{[citation needed]} Most shopaholics^[which?] try to counteract feelings of low self-esteem through the emotional lift and momentary euphoria provided by compulsive shopping.^{[citation needed]} These shoppers, who also experience a higher than normal rate of associated disorders—depression, bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression), anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders, and impulse-control disorders—may be using their symptom to self-medicate.^{[citation needed]}

Systemic

Social conditions may also play an important role,^{[citation needed]} especially in capitalist societies Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for a private profit; decisions regarding supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are made by private actors in the market rather than by central planning; profit is distributed to owners who invest in businesses, and that are dominated by a consumerist economy Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen or, more recently by a movement[citation needed] called Enoughism. Veblen's subject of.^{[citation needed]} Ubiquitous marketing and advertising promotes a culture of consumerism,^{[citation needed]} by encouraging the creation of artificial needs.^{[citation needed]} Debt, facilitated by credit cards A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services. The issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the, enable the casual spending beyond that of ones means.^{[citation needed]} What differentiates oniomania from healthy shopping is this compulsive, destructive and chronic nature of the buying.^{[citation needed]}

Consequences

The consequences of oniomania, which may persist long after a spree, can be devastating.^{[citation needed]} They may include crushing consumer debt Consumer debt is consumer credit which is outstanding. In macroeconomic terms, it is debt which is used to fund consumption rather than investment, ruined credit history Credit history or credit report is, in many countries, a record of an individual's or company's past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy. The term "credit reputation" can either be used synonymous to credit history or to credit score, theft In criminal law, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting, fraud and sometimes criminal conversion. In some jurisdictions, theft is or defalcation Defalcation is a term used by the United States Bankruptcy Code to describe a category of bad acts that taint a particular debt such that it cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. The division is different from both criminal and civil rules describing permitted and unpermitted acts. So, parking fines garnered through illegal parking are generally of money Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally, a standard of deferred payment, defaulted loans, and general financial trouble.^{[citation needed]} The resulting stress can lead to physical health problems, marital problems, ruined relationships, and in some cases, suicide Suicide is the act of a human being intentionally causing his or her own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, or attributed to some underlying mental disorder which includes depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug abuse. Financial difficulties, interpersonal relationships and other undesirable situations play.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Behavioral addiction The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user himself
• Compulsive buying disorder Compulsive buying disorder is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. Most persons with CBD meet the criteria for an axis II disorder. CBD is found in 5.8% of the United States population, of which approximately 80% are female. It is frequently comorbid with mood, anxiety, substance abuse
• Debtors Anonymous Debtors Anonymous is a twelve-step program for people who want to stop incurring unsecured debt. Collectively they attend more than 500 weekly meetings in nine countries. Those who compulsively incur unsecured debt are said to be engaged in compulsive debting and are known as compulsive debtors
• Gambling Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety, or by a combination of such thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions). Symptoms may include repetitive hand-washing; extensive hoarding; preoccupation with sexual or aggressive
• Affluenza Affluenza, a portmanteau of the words affluence and influenza, is a term used by critics of capitalism and consumerism. Sources define this term as follows:
• Retail therapy Retail therapy is shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition. Often seen in people during periods of depression or transition, it is normally a short-lived habit. Items purchased during periods of retail therapy are sometimes referred to as "comfort buys."

Further reading

• Benson, A. I Shop Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying & the Search for Self, New York: Jason Aronson. 2000.
• Benson, A. To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop Boston: Trumpeter Books, 2008.
• Black, D.W. (2007). A review of compulsive buying disorder. World Psychiatry, 6, 1, pp. 14–18.
• Bleuler, E. Textbook of Psychiatry. New York: Macmillan, 1924.
• Catalano E. and Sonenberg, N. Consuming Passions: Help for Compulsive Shoppers. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, 1993.
• DeSarbo WS and Edwards EA. “Typologies of Compulsive Buying Behavior: A Constrained Cluster-Wise Regression Approach.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 1996; 5: 231-252, 1996.
• Elliott, R. “Addictive Consumption: Function and Fragmentation in Postmodernity.” Journal of Consumer Policy, 17, 159-179, 1994.
• Faber, R. J., O’Guinn, T. C. and Krych, R. “Compulsive Consumption.” Advances in Consumer Research, 14, 132-135, 1987.
• Kraepelin, E. Psychiatrie (8th ed.). Leipzig: Verlag von Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1915.
• McElroy, SL, Phillips KA, Keck PE, Jr. “Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorder.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; 55[10, suppl]: 33-51,1994
• Nataraajan, R. and Goff, B. “Manifestations of Compulsiveness in the Consumer-Marketplace Domain.” Psychology and Marketing, 9 (1), 31-44,1992.
• Ridgway NM, Kukar-Kinney M, Monroe K. “An expanded conceptualization and a new measure of compulsive buying.” Journal of Consumer Research, 35, #4, 350-406, Dec. 2008.

References

1. ^ OMD. (2000, Mar 5). Retrieved, January 16, 2008, from http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?oniomania
2. ^ http://www.zwaenge.de Deutsche Gesellschaft Zwangserkrankungen
3. ^ Clinical Manual of Impulse-control Disorders, Eric Hollander and Dan J. Stein. Published by American Psychiatric Pub, 2006

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