I see, therefore I need…my motto as I browse the aisles of every shop or store I enter. Whether it’s a boutique downtown, a vintage shop, a retail store or even Amazon— if I see something glitter out of the corner of my eye, my brain says that I have to have it.
Impulsive buying and shopping addiction is on the rise among today’s young adults, especially college students. Stress is a big contributing factor to this addiction, so it’s no mystery as to why students are the ones having problems.
According to the National Library of Medicine, a 2022 study done on university students in China about shopping addiction and stress found that students with high levels of stress often have an online shopping addiction tendency, otherwise known as OSAT.
“We demonstrated for the first time that the greater the pressure college students experienced, the greater the markers for additive OSAT and the lower their social support,” said Huimin Li et al. “Secondly, student stress (academic hassle, personal hassle, and negative life events) is positively correlated with the OSAT and negatively correlated with social support. Student stress is an indicator of online shopping addiction.”
Whether it is carefully browsing in stores or mindlessly scrolling online, shopping is an activity that takes your mind away from reality, even just for a moment. I know I have a hard time going into a store or looking on social media and not feeling an impulse to make a purchase. I see something I like, and I just have to have it — as if this thing will somehow fill a void in my life. However, it fills nothing, only emptying my pockets.
“I find it extremely hard to resist the urge to not buy things, even if it’s small like a sweet treat,” said Gigi Mcauley, a junior criminal justice major. “I don’t need it, but I buy. It’s like a coping mechanism. I have a good day; I’ll buy something. I have a bad day; I’ll buy something.”
It doesn’t matter the circumstances. There is just this compulsive feeling to buy something. It’s a way for people to cope with the trials and inconveniences of life and a way for people to even reward successes. Shopping is a way for us to get out of our heads for a minute and distract us from reality.
I am in no way saying that shopping is a bad thing. I personally love shopping. It is one of my favorite activities, and it always has been and always will be. However, there is a fine line between shopping as a hobby and becoming a shopaholic, and I cannot see that line. That line is a dot to me because I have crossed the line so far into the shopaholic range.
This shopping addiction is causing a lot more than economic strain. It also exacerbates the issues that cause it. Like I said before, shopping addiction has to do with stress. The issues behind this addiction affect one’s mental health and the addiction itself does not help them. It only makes things worse and spirals you deeper into feeling overwhelmed.
There is no amount of material things that can fill the holes that stress leaves in our lives. When you buy something, there is this rush of feeling that makes you happy and content. Then, it goes away, and the shopping high vanishes. But when you buy something else to have the same feeling as before but are left feeling worse from the guilt of buying something you may have not really needed or was way more than you could afford. The vicious cycle continues, and your wallet and mental state suffer.
It is true when they say that you shop ‘til you drop because instead of feeling good after a shopping spree, you’re left feeling exhausted. So, I will encourage you. The next time you feel an impulse to buy something, think about it. Consider if it benefits you or if you’re just getting it because your mind says you “deserve” it. Your bank account might thank me later.
