There’s no such thing as a ‘shopping disorder’

DO YOU love to shop? Do you dread your credit card bill each month, with proof of just how your purchases stack up?

Well, fear not: you’re probably suffering from a new condition, Compulsive Shopping Disorder.

Unbelievably, there are calls to make this an official diagnosis because of the growing number of people who say that because they just can’t stop buying, they must be ill — and so seek help.

What a relief that would be for profligate shoppers! Once something is deemed an illness, the only proper response is sympathy: ‘That £300 pair of shoes isn’t my fault, darling, it’s my CSD playing up.’ You can’t chastise someone who has a disorder.

I despair of what I see as the creeping medicalisation of everyday life: it removes any sense of personal responsibility for our behaviour and its consequences, and any need for self-discipline.

It’s the same with sex addiction, now a formally recognised condition: ‘No, I’m not a sleazy character who can’t keep his hands to himself. I’m ill.’

Similar attitudes are rife in schools. Children are labelled with terms such as ‘school refusal disorder’ (not wanting to go to school) and ‘oppositional defiant syndrome’ (hostile behaviour to figures in authority).

It’s simply an excuse not to think about, and address, the underlying cause — social or environmental factors — or to discipline the child, while determining what needs to change to improve the situation.