ADDICTED TO ONLINE SHOPPING?

There’s nothing like a little retail therapy every now and again, but if you find yourself clicking ‘add to cart’ more often than not, it might be time to get serious about your shopping habit. In a new report from Comprehensive Psychiatry, buying-shopping disorder (BSD) is now gaining attention as a mental health condition not only with physically going shopping, but also with online shopping. Characterised as “extreme preoccupation with spending and irresistible and identity-seeking urges to possess consumer goods”, those with BSD tend to spend as a coping mechanism. Unsure where to draw the line between impulse buying and needing to seek treatment? Here are the key symptoms:

• Immediate pleasure or relief from spending

• Hiding purchases or credit card statements

• Clutter as a result of hoarding

• Being indebted to loved ones

• Lying, deceiving or stealing

• Constant insufficient funds.