I had a mix conversation last night with friends and one of the topics/subjects was: shopaholic people!! we were discussing long minutes about why people don't stop buying and buying unnecessary things that they have even in surplus at home? People are maniacs for certain kind of objects ...clothes/ shoes/lingerie/jewels/many things for home decor/....etc etc. No limits. what are the reasons of all this crazy behavior?? Or they have too much $$$ or they have something wrong in their minds.

Help me to understand this crazy shopaholic ones!!

thanks

I am totally guilty of being a Shopaholic..
My wardrobe and my closet full..
I'm starting..well!!!... I have a pretty good start on my second watch box.. each box holds 8 watches... I have more Aeropostale t-shirts than any one person should have.. I literally could open up my own Aeropostale store..Lol... I guess it is a little bit of self-entitlement.. maybe growing up with little has something to do with it...

Any new purchase tends to make you feel good.. about where you are in life...
But you should never spend more than you can afford to .... sometimes buying a new outfit or new watch is better than spending the money on something like alcohol drugs gambling.. women..Lol... but I think I finally reached a place in my life where I have more than I need and I'm happy with what I have... so hopefully oh wait a minute is that a... Rolex watch on sale online that I just saw... got to go....Ttyl..

Great question. I’ve wondered the same when I watch my sister shop.

I’ve heard it said that the rewarding feeling of a new purchase can be an addictive uphoric thing.

Some say that shopaholics are trying to buy materialistic happiness because their lives are lacking something.

I’ve also heard the theory that when someone once struggled financially, then achieve a certain level of financial freedom, some can only “feel” it through the purchases they make and materially visual items around them. Knowing they have a fat bank balance is not visually satisfying.

Then you always have the one-uppers. There are people who simply must own the latest and greatest to show off to their friends and to illustrate their success.

Personally, I think some people just like having stuff and buying new stuff.

Me, I have never felt I need quantity, but can be choosy about quality, because it lasts longer. When my clothes and shoes last longer, I don’t have to shop as often. It’s just not my thing.

I believe the shopaholic and the hoarder are similar in that they have the conditioning to connect an object with an emotion. They want to keep all those good emotions that are associated with a certain period of time or a certain purchase they made, and they do it by gathering as many of those items as they can, so they can collect as many good emotions and memories as possible. AS odd and materialistic as it seems, I think for many its just a type of emotional outreach.

I say this as the oddball of the family who really only buys what I am using and holds on to hardly anything that I am not. I also asked about the purpose of 'things' and this was the explanation, basically, its emotional memory.

Could be a combination of reasons why some people are shopahollics!
Some don't even Know themselves why! Many are not even rich or wealthy.
It is a obsession and the individual needs counseling/and or teaments of some sort often times to Change that behavior!

Shopaholic is a compulsion, just like alcoholic, foodaholics or sexaholic.
A lot of people have compulsions they can't control.
It causes problems in their lives and those problems lead to stress and malcontentment.
Many times, when a holic gains some control over one compulsion it manifests in a different compulsion.
Mainly because they don't understand the nature of compulsions.
Not all compulsions are destructive right away.
Its only when they become destructive that a problem manifests.

A Compulsion is an irresistible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against one's conscious wishes.
But it is not so cut and dry.
Compulsions can manifest without knowing.
It is basically as loss of self-control.

A lot of people do not possess the ability to have self-control.
They are slaves to their compulsions.
The only way to beat the compulsion is to take charge and be decisive.
Easier said than done in most cases.

A shopaholic, has to shop. They're unable not to shop.
Its how they try to find stability and personal acceptance.
If you get in the way of them fulfilling their compulsion, they will get around you.
It is an imperative to them.

Here in the UK. We seem to call it 'Retail Therapy'. There is nothing better than buying something new to make you feel good, and providing you don't over spend or become an obsessive, I don't see any harm in it.

I'm too budget conscious to allow myself to be a shopaholic, and shopping in itself is not fun for me anyway, but if I had thousands to spare I'd feel different, and be buying all manner of hardware, tools and gadgets, and big boy's toys, because it feels good to know that you have it (whatever 'it' is) even if you don't need it, or never use it. I do wish I had bought every vinyl record I ever wanted, and some multiple copies, but again, budget, and space.

I do hoard a little by not throwing everything out, and keeping some bits and pieces 'because it may be useful one day'; my creative side uses these things to repair or modify items, make parts for models, mock up ideas and inventions, and make art. I have saved myself hundreds of $ and trips to hardware/craft shops by having useful rubbish handy; dead biros and pens, circuit boards, assorted small boxes and containers, stoppers, corks, plugs, tubing, guitar strings, springs, gauges, wires, switches, grommets, bits of metal, cardboard, rubber, plastic, all sorts of small junk.

But I still wonder at people with huge expensive useless collections, like my friend with porcelain dolls and the glass cabinets to house them; absolutely useless in practical terms, maybe an investment on a good day, definitely a liability if damaged, and once you've seen them, you've seen them.

For all shopaholics : one good day;you will decide to give or donate many things you have purchased in extra. Think about all people who need all that;specially basic things(clothes/shoes..and even food). There is a great satisfaction giving to others!. You have only one body with 2 hands and 2 feet.

Think about it...

If you shop to feel good, you’re REALLY going to like this!

You are right and wrong in my case. I don't shop to feel good, but what I shop for and give to others, now that makes me feel good, especially around the holidays.

Shopaholics don't necessarily shop to 'feel good'.
Just like alcoholics don't drink to 'feel good'.
Many times, it makes them feel even worse but they can't stop themselves.
Think 'drug addict'.
Instead of drugs, its shopping.
They will lie, steal and cheat to charge their credit cards.
So they can get their 'fix' at the mall.
If you ask them why they bought something they might have no answer or they will lie to cover up their addiction. They might even start crying.
Its an obsessive compulsion that over-rides reason.
They can't stop.

I am like the anti-shopaholic.
I don't buy anything until the last one wears out.
My part of the closet is 1/4 of my mates.
I am claustrophobic so I wear no jewelry or
bling.

I go shopping like >>>Poetrywriter, for others
and THAT I adore :-)

I love you, Dolly.

I think this label gets pasted on a bunch of different kinds of people.

I know I've never qualified as a "shop-a-holic," but a couple of related defects apply. I was a collector of certain things for a long time.

Collecting certainly can be a personal problem, and can mimic "shop-a-holismm."

Some of the reasons I ended up collecting, were the same as why many people are shopping maniacs. Part of it was subconscious associations of "good things" as someone else mentioned. Part of it was certainly at
least psychologically inherited, in an odd way, from my parents. They grew up in the Great Depression years, especially my mom, and so the idea of throwing away anything that was still functional, was considered sacrilege.

One part of my defect, that I figure had to have been weirdly biological, is that I have a natural fixation on assembling things, and putting things in order. In the collecting area, that causes me to feel I have to COMPLETE things. If I have volume three of a six book set, I need to seek out and buy the other five volumes, even if I have no interest in what they say.

And I also found that the PURSUIT of finding the next piece in the collection, was a lot of fun as well, to the point where I found that I didn't want really to succeed in completing the thing, because the fun of the hunt would be over. I know some people who shop too much, and keep buying stuff they don't need, have something like the same "defect."

What I'm trying to say is that most compulsion sufferers don't try to justify their addiction to others.
Others don't understand.
It is a personal reason(s) that drives the compulsion.
At least that's what they tell themselves.

During my alcohol rehab in the Navy, I was also accompanied by over-eaters.
The reason why the two were grouped together is because the baseline issue is the compulsion.
Rehab warned us about shopaholic and sexaholic substitutions, as well as many others not mentioned here.
Rehab was geared to help people deal with their compulsions.
First they needed to identify what being compulsive means.
Then they worked on isolating and treating the compulsions.

In the OP, Jazz states, that the thread is due to a discussion concerning shopaholics.
The quest is to understand "this crazy shopaholic ones".
He doesn't imply, he or anyone he knows, is a shopaholic.

From what I have read in the replies, nobody seems to have understanding of the shopaholic condition.
Some of you know what it isn't but the request is to understand what it means to be one.

Like I already said, shopaholic is just like drug addicts and alcoholics.
Their baseline roots in compulsion.
Some call it OCD (Obsessive Compulsion Disorder)
Problem is, not all addictions are obsessive. They are compulsions tho.
Compulsions become a problem when there is a loss of self-control, for any reason.
The sufferer will erect complex justifications to protect their compulsion.
Those displays of justification only reinforce the compulsion.

Why was I allowing myself to get into trouble just so I could have another drink?
I knew it was causing turmoil in my life but I did it anyway.
I justified my need for a drink many ways.
Yet, I couldn't stop, even after it threatened my lifestyle.
I created justifications within myself so I could keep drinking.

Same thing with any compulsion sufferer.
It wasn't fixed until I found my own serenity.
I still drink.
The difference is that I don't allow myself to self-destruct thru drinking.
I have gained control over my compulsion.
I didn't substitute one compulsion for another, I disciplined my thinking to understand and control my compulsion.
Easier said than done.

Jazz, I hope this gives you some understanding behind the condition of shopaholics.

The weird thing is that most of these people are buying in credit, and they will need years to pay back but never stopped.

For me I have 2 jeans, 2 shoes, 4 T-shirts and 1 suit