Do You Have a Shopping Addiction? [How to recover]

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Shopping is very much a part of everyday life, especially in today’s world of one-click purchases and Apple Pay. But when shopping becomes a compulsion, you buy things you don’t need, or you’re deeply in debt because of your purchases, there may be a bigger problem at hand.

A shopping addiction, commonly known as Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), or Buying-Shopping Disorder (BSD), is defined as an obsession or compulsion to make purchases to soothe feelings of stress or anxiety, to your financial detriment.

The National Institutes of Health note that shopping addictions tend to run in families. And compulsive shoppers often have other disorders or addictions present. But like some other behavioral addictions, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) doesn’t recognize Shopping Addiction as its own separate disorder.

This can make it hard to identify the condition in yourself or a loved one. Or to find resources to help you treat the addiction.