Excess Consumerism: Obsessed with Shopping

Depending on most people's outlook; some people enjoy shopping, some people hate shopping and some people are addicted to shopping. Shopping represents different things to different people and the ones who are obsessed with shopping are usually enjoying shopping because it gives them a satisfaction of filling needs for themselves or their loved ones. It is the hunting and gathering feeling of being filled with items that we truly desire and sometimes need that gives some people a "high" when shopping. Now, everyone differs when asked whether a woman "needs" 15 pairs of black high heel shoes or handbags to match, but even for men getting regular clothing; it is a good feeling that we attain when we find what we are searching for and are able to purchase these items at our leisure.

These shopping behaviors of course are usually dependent upon the economy and sometimes the worse the economy is; then the better the shopping outlook is because you can get better deals at sales or it may just be smoke and mirrors and you really are being duped. And of course having a plethora of more things you don't need or want is never an asset; if you are only enjoying the actions of picking these things out and retrieving them from stores again and again sale or not, it is more of a repetitive obsessive behavior filling a void that you have; than it is a deal or bargain.

When shopping starts to run into an obsession is when you can't say no, you just can't have any discipline involved, you are out of money, friends and family have pleaded with you to cut back, if you don't have the shopping behavior in your agenda you have anxiety attacks and start to go through a withdrawal feeling much like any food or medical withdrawal. One of the easiest ways to find out if your are obsessed with shopping is to stop, just buy the real down to earth necessities (you may need a friend to help you only get the real items you need) for 6 months and then see how you feel. The reason is that the activity of shopping represented to you some great highs and some comfort levels that are used in place of real life activities, such as just going for a walk in the park, meeting a friend for a visit, time with family, work, or other activities that are day to day occurrences but not necessarily the highs we feel when pulling all of the new items out of a bag or going on and on about our latest sale conquest. There are other activities that are much cheaper and more rewarding; just be sure that it is a choice you are making to shop or to not shop and not an obsession.