Shopping addiction increasingly becomes a critical issue for millions of Americans. With the ongoing growth of the global economy, producers have a lot to offer and use all means to engage potential customers in online shopping. The bank system that suggests comfortable credit agreements makes the issue even more complicated, as individuals spend the money they do not own. From the economic perspective, this tendency is positive as it supports the producers and the banking system. However, shopping addiction is a dangerous habit that has devastating consequences. This paper presents the summary of the experience of abstaining from online shopping for eight weeks, while also integrating the addiction theory perspective.
Trigger Events, Success, and Failure at Abstinence
To conclude, abandoning the habit of compulsive shopping was a liberating experience. There were times of success and failure that accompanied my journey. For example, in the first weeks, it took me some willpower to continue the journey, as visits to shopping malls became a weekend routine for me. However, I formed new habits that replaced the old ones – after giving up visits to malls, I had a lot of free time on weekends. I devoted this time to walks with my three-year-old son.
There have been several triggering events that complicated abstinence from the bad habit. For example, I was driven by the mall and, entering a giant shopping center, could not leave without a purchase. Moreover, magazines and online alerts about new arrival items such as clothes and handbags have raised my desire to return to shopping. Finally, new credit card offers urged me to go shopping.
In fact, several helpful thoughts and actions kept me from indulging. As such, during Week 1, I avoided going to the mall. Next, I started to stay home and only go out grocery shopping during Week 2. Soon enough, I left all my credit cards at home and deleted all digitally stored credit card numbers. Instead of going to the mall, I went for a walk with my three years old. By Week 5, I decided to stay home, watch TV with my family, and read a book. Finally, in Weeks 7 and 8, I did not need anything to motivate me since it became natural for me to walk with my son. As a result, I did not need to think about the bad habit because my son was at the door waiting for our walk time. Hence, I’ve concluded that behaviors that led to ongoing abstinence included unsubscribing from email lists and unfollowing social media accounts related to shopping, walking in the neighborhood with my son, and spending extra time doing my school work.
Nevertheless, there were moments that contributed to indulging in shopping during the first few weeks. For example, during Week 1, I drove to the mall when I got to the parking. During Week 2, my sister came to visit and asked me to go to the mall. Finally, Week 3 was challenging because my friend sent pictures of the clothes and other items she had purchased. Thus, behaviors that contributed to relapse included chatting with my friend about shopping, reading magazines with advertisements, and having a digital card and limitless credit card.
Influences on Abstinence
The ongoing desire to buy things impacted my abstinence decision significantly. This desire became an almost imperceptible habit, supported by my involvement in reading online ads and joy from buying new things in shopping centers. However, I managed to overcome this craving by cutting myself access to credit cards and unsubscribing from online ads. The sadness that followed the unsatisfied desire to buy things was another torturing feeling, but I overcame it by changing my weekend routines. As a result, my financial and emotional life improved considerably.
Addiction Theory
Scholars provide various definitions of shopping addiction and mostly see it as a negative phenomenon. Kim and Hodgins (2018) note that “behavioral addictions such as gambling, video games, sex, and shopping share many clinical features with substance use addictions including etiology, course, and neurobiology” (p. 406). Burnette et al. (2019) add that a compensatory-growth attitude to addiction is perceived better by addicts than the disease-fixed approach, and it “led to stronger intentions to pursue counseling and cognitive behavioral treatment therapies” (p. 367). In other words, a more humane approach to addiction leads to better treatment results.
Likely, the attitudes and approaches could have changed through the recent years since there are too many people having some addiction globally. Scholars discuss the problem of shopping addiction among people in the US, Europe, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, and other emerging economies. Types of addiction are also changing – there are cases of addiction to sports, healthy eating, online shopping, social media, and using smartphones. Hence, even healthy habits can become a source of addiction.
What I Learned About Myself
In the experience of giving up the habit of shopping addiction, I learned a lot about myself. Firstly, I realized that I am not the only person who has addiction problems, as nowadays people become addicted to all possible things in all ways. I discovered that I can cope with my addiction if I adhere to the initial strategy and remain determined. I also learned that simple pleasures like going out are very important and that I don’t have enough time to constantly spend it on buying things.
Next Actions
The project has demonstrated that I can cope with my addiction to shopping, but I still think I should take specific actions to be consistent. Namely, instead of shopping, I should stay home watching TV with my family and spend extra time on my school assignment. Moreover, I should continue walking around my neighborhood for an hour with my son. To continue to avoid going to the mall and shopping center, I should stick to the new routine of family time and walking by creating an environment that encourages me to do so. Finally, to stop purchasing unnecessary items, I should stop using my credit card or install a limit that would prevent me from trapping in lucrative ad propositions. Thus, I will create cues and environmental conditions that would appraise my new positive behavior and turn it into a fixed attitude that will lead me to a happier life.
Conclusion
Thus, the summary of the experience of abstaining from online shopping for eight weeks was presented. During this time, I had successes and failures as I was trying to abstain from shopping. I developed a strategy to prevent myself from buying things, and it proved helpful. Filling in the log journal was also a fun experience, as it reminded me of my goal and commitment. At the end of the experience, I realized how much shopping addiction impacted my emotional state and finances.
References
Burnette, J. L., Forsyth, R. B., Desmarais, S. L., & Hoyt, C. L. (2019). Mindsets of addiction: Implications for treatment intentions. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 38(5), 367-394.
Kim, H. S., & Hodgins, D. C. (2018). Component model of addiction treatment: A pragmatic transdiagnostic treatment model of behavioral and substance addictions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 406.