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Compulsive Shopping Addiction
Black Friday or black hole? How to stop yourself from spiralling in into compulsive shopping?
You and your partner made promises to each other to budget- soon you are hiding shopping bags, or sneaking in Amazon parcels. Soon you are avoiding even looking at the bills and feeling out of control.
We all know about consumerism and how we keep wanting more and more. How we keep buying things we don’t need. Shopping is one of the most normalised and overlooked addiction.
Many of us leaned to shopping as a coping mechanism as children. Our parents, unintentionally, were creating neural pathways to regulate our emotions through purchases.
The message was direct that if you don’t feel good within ourselves, we buy to feel good. This creates adults into credit cards debtis. Who live beyond their means. They don’t budget or plan.
This isn’t about lacking financial discipline. It is deeper than that. This is about dopamine.
This is about getting a temporary high to escape from numbness or anxiety in order to temporary cells rude. When we shop we feel in control by getting something for ourselves.
This is addiction because it causes panic and guilt afterwards.
Definition, statistics and contributing factors
Compulsive buying disorder also referred to as shopping addiction, oniomania, pathological buying, is characterized by excessive and poorly controlled preoccupations, urges, or behaviours related to shopping and spending.
We at Harmony Mind Clinic, frequently see patients with impulsive buying and repeated urges to get something to feel good.
Also, having worked with Substance use and various other behavioural addiction patients, I’ve found this problem more common than others.
It is found that at least one quarter of global population indulge in compulsive buying at some point in their lives. The common age group is 18 to 24 years of age, during which various factors which are self esteem and social image give importance in the lives of young adults. The female gender is commonly involved in compulsive buying when compared with males as women often tend to accept the fact that they enjoy shopping.
Study in India found that 25% students were having compulsive buying disorder.
Contributing factors in compulsive shopping addiction
Also, in this post COVID era, the extent of online e-commerce has increased significantly. In an era of technological innovation leading to rapid urbanization, there is an increase in people’s average purchasing power. Once people reach a level of financial independent, they tend to develop chopping habits and indulge into buying things that are beyond their essential and daily needs. This condition becomes pathological when it affects their financial stability and affects the personal and professional life.
This is often routed in pre-existing psychiatric conditions like depression, stress, anxiety, other addicitons and ADHD.
Shopping becomes a way for instant gratification to cope.
Phases of shopping addiction –
Schlosser et al hypothesized that this occurs in 4 phases: anticipation, preparation shopping and spending. First phase begins when a person create scenarios in the mind in which they are happy and content with the product. Second phase begins when an individual receives sufficient money to buy the product, the actively start searching the internet for the best available price and decide where and when to purchase the product. The third phase is the act of shopping in which an individual visits a particular Store or buys a product about which they are intensely excited. The final act of purchase is usually followed by disappointment or let down and guilt.
Do’s and Don’ts to prevent making a hole in your pocket during Black Friday Sale.
Turns out, having an MD doesn’t save you from a 70%-off flash sale. Black Friday: 1, Me: 0.
Brains are wired for reward—mine included.
As someone who studies dopamine loops for a living, I still got pulled into a couple of Black Friday offers. This is normal. Your prefrontal cortex knows the science, but your limbic system loves a good reward cue—especially when the timer is flashing and the price drops look irresistible. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s recognising the drift and recalibrating.
Here are a few tips to guide you. Because knowledge doesn’t make you immune. It just makes you quicker to catch yourself, laugh at the pattern, and course-correct.
✅ DOs
- Make a written list before opening any app.
Neuroscience shows that having a pre-decided list reduces impulsive decisions by anchoring your brain to goals rather than emotions.
- Set a hard spending limit.
Decide a number and stick to it.
Use a separate UPI wallet or prepaid card so your main account isn’t accessible.
- Wait 24 hours before buying anything not on your list.
The “cooling-off rule” reduces emotional purchases significantly.
- Shop consciously — not on autopilot
Ask yourself:
- Do I need this?
- Will it add value 3 months from now?
- Is this replacing something I already have?
- Turn off notifications & unsubscribe temporarily.
Marketing notifications are designed to trigger urgency and fear of missing out (FOMO).
- Use the “time budget” method
Limit your browsing time (e.g., 20 minutes).
The longer you scroll, the more you buy.
- Track your emotions before buying
People shop more when they’re:
- stressed
- lonely
- bored
- feeling low
Write it down → helps build emotional awareness.
- Keep bigger financial goals visible
A wallpaper that reminds you of:
- travel plans
- EMIs
- savings goals
…helps regulate impulsive urges.
- Add items to cart, but don’t check out immediately.
This gives you the satisfaction of browsing, but breaks the impulse loop.
- Get sustainable. Avoid fast fashion.
Even if you buy, build a capsule wardrobe that lasts.
- Scan your cupboards and drawers quarterly. You may find some item that you haven’t used. Also get creative in using something differently.
❌ DON’Ts
- Don’t shop when emotionally triggered.
Buying when you’re upset = reinforcement of the “shopping-as-coping” cycle.
- Don’t save your card details on apps.
Adding friction reduces impulsive checkouts.
- Don’t watch haul videos or influencer recommendations.
Beware of the algorithm which is designed to trap you in consumerism. These are engineered to create comparison and urgency.
- Don’t browse without purpose.
Random browsing → random buying.
Use the advanced search button liberally.
- Don’t keep “just in case” items in your cart.
If it doesn’t have a purpose, you don’t need it.
- Don’t fall for the “70% off” trap.
A discount is not a saving if the original purchase wasn’t needed.
- Don’t shop late at night.
Decision fatigue = impulsive choices + poorer financial judgement. They shell out deals after 12am by using this psychology.
- Educate yourself.
Read about consumer psychology and financial planning.
🌿 Use the HALT Tool
Before every purchase, ask yourself:
H – Hungry
A – Angry
L – Lonely
T – Tired
If yes to any, pause — you’re more vulnerable to impulsive behaviour.
Bonus tips-
- App Detox: Delete shopping apps till the sale ends.
- Accountability buddy: Share your spending limit with a friend.
- Daily spending review: A 2-minute check helps curb future impulses.
- Reward yourself in non-shopping ways: Tea, music, walk, show.
So if you are someone who is struggling with symptoms like feeling out of control and having intense urges which has led to a dysfunction in your personal and professional life; then book an assessment at Harmony Mind Clinic.
After a thorough evaluation by our team of doctors and psychologists, we help identify the underline problem, teach you emotional regulation skills, give you practical distress tolerance techniques, guide you to manage cues and help surf craving.
Share this with someone who needs it.
– Dr. Mauni Nagda
(MBBS, MD, DNB, PDF De-Add)
CoFounder- Harmony Mind Clinic, South Bombay
References:
- Cm N, Edward S, Grace A, Nb S. A Study to Assess the Prevalence and Determinants of Compulsive Buying Disorder Among College Students in Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu. Cureus. 2025 Jun 9;17(6):e85664. doi: 10.7759/cureus.85664. PMID: 40642701; PMCID: PMC12241713.
- Compulsive Buying Behavior and Online Shopping Addiction of Women. Inf. Sci. Lett. 12, No. 5, 1641-1650 (2023)
- Online Compulsive Buying Behavior of Young Consumers in India – Examining
the role of Smartphone Addiction, Social Media Addiction, Fear of Missing Out
(FOMO) and Impulsive Buying Behavior. Journal of Informatics Education and Research
ISSN: 1526-4726 Vol 4 Issue 1 (2024)
“Restoring Balance, One Mind at a Time.”
