Shopping addiction and depression related

Shopping addiction and depression can be directly related

24/10/2014

Studies have shown that people who feel ashamed after an intense spending spree often suffer from a mental disorder. Therefore, those affected should definitely seek help from a specialist, because the consumerism is often related to a depression.

Proven features of a shopping addiction are, in addition to feelings of shame, the collecting, hiding or forgetting of the purchased goods immediately after the buying spree. This is indicated by the German Society for Psychosomatic Medicine and Medical Psychotherapy (DGPM). Frequently, shopping addiction is also associated with depression. „Almost two-thirds of our patients have depression“, reports Privatdozentin Dr. med. Dr. phil. Astrid Müller from the Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at the Hannover Medical School. Others suffer from compulsive hoarding - which is very similar to Messie syndrome. „The compulsion to buy is often very pronounced in these patients and the treatment is therefore particularly difficult“, explains the psychologist. According to this, for buyers, the goal is not the possession of an object, but the acquisition itself. Compulsive shopping, however, only relieves this pressure for a short time: „The buying episode precedes a period of depression, tension or boredom“, Müller explains in a press release of the DGPM.

Purchase compulsion continues by no means seldom
In addition, it should be noted that "the addicts are already in massive difficulties in the diagnosis and onset of psychotherapeutic treatment" would: „Many patients have substantial social, financial, and often legal problems when they eventually seek treatment“, so Müller. In addition, she assumes that the compulsory purchase is by no means a rare disease. "About 7 percent of the population are affected, as several studies would show."

This is also confirmed by Professor Dr. med. Harald Gündel, Medical Director of the University Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy in Ulm and spokesman for the DGPM: „The assumption of compulsory purchase as a mental illness is not only a question of classification, but more so that a behavioral disorder is recognized as such. This sharpens the public problem awareness and helps those affected.“

A possible cause of the purchase addiction sees Astrid Müller in it, „that compulsive buying could be motivated by fundamental personality variables.“ Many of the patients showed a high level of risk taking, which would hide negative consequences.

As a possible treatment, she calls a behavioral therapy, which promotes the disease insight and shows the patients ways to relativize the desire to buy and to avoid the buying frenzy. „Group therapy can effectively combat shopping addiction. Therefore, we advise people who recognize a compulsiveness in their buying behavior to seek psychological help“, said the DGPM expert. (Jp)