Why am I addicted to shopping?
If you are a compulsive shopper, it may stem from much more than a weakness for beautiful things… Find out what a psychologist has to say on the topic.
Compulsive shopping often shows a lack of confidence. That is to say, “I am a woman of no interest, but through what I’m going to buy myself, that will change.” When you engage in this type of behaviour, it is taken as a sign of duality – that is the drop in self-esteem and hyper-investment in the the alleged power of objects and brands. Hence the fact that we buy less to consume than to console ourselves…
How to manage? The advice of psychiatrist Michel Lejoyeux:
When you feel overwhelmed by a shopping spree, it may be interesting to understand what, in childhood, we lacked in order to have self confidence and to establish a healthy relationship with money. It is also, through psychotherapy,by attempting to reinvest in the image we have of ourselves and disinvest some acquisition… without going to extreme measures.
Michel Lejoyeux is professor of medical psychology, addiction medicine and psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine Paris 7. He is also the author of a book on the topic.
Stéphanie Tower
