Oniomania or Crazy Shopping: the Way to Nowhere.

Everything has become easier with the inventing of the Internet. Why bother leaving the house? People lose control and buy everything they need and don't. Shopping is gradually becoming a serious problem for different nations that can lead to a real epidemic*.

* Compulsive attraction to make a rash purchase in large quantities is typical of more than 20% of the population of developed countries

What is Shopping?

Shopping is a form of pastime when a person purchases new goods, designed to meet his or her "real" and vital needs.

Each time acquiring something new, a person receives a relaxing effect and subconsciously tends to experience this wonderful feeling again to compensate for the accumulated negative. However, purchasing again and again do not bring the expected delight. As a result, these things are collected and on occasion are used as birthdays presents for friends or are sent into a trash can. An alarming sign...
Back in 1915 psychiatrists has named this disease as oniomania. The disease as serious as alcoholism or drug addiction. Its consequences affect person's mental and physical health. Oniomania can at least lead to significant debts and depression.
Then why do all of us impetuously spend money?

Shopping-Programming 

All our life consists of various forms and types of addictions, which are based on the possession of desirable. People are programmed to perform certain actions, in particular, to always get the necessary product. Which way? Traps of shopping-programming are cleverly placed and encapsulated in the magnetism of music, mirrors, light, charming consultants, and, of course, advertising.
Serene music with a rate of 60-64 beats per minute (largo or andante) slows down traffic and holds a buyer in the store. Well-chosen background music helps to increase sales by at least 30%! People often do not notice the way a particular song affects them. They just feel good and their mood rises.
Another trick is the power of mirrors and light. Mirrors make you more attractive, thus you attribute this to the thing you liked. Light completes the process, hiding the bags under your eyes. You look younger and prettier. The consultant remains only to hint you with a soft pleasant voice that you should listen to your inner voice.

However, a special role in the formation of an all-consuming passion for shopping plays the advertising, originating in our consciousness fears and inferiority complexes! Often advertising, along with the society, reinforces the decision. We are all under pressure. Vivid images and ideas about the superiority of one product over another have obnubilated our mind. Everyone wants an expensive car, beautiful healthy skin and hair, good body shape, exclusive clothing. It remains to determine the brand... and that's all.
Indoctrination in the advertising resembles hypnosis! It plays a key role: by watching it, a person unwittingly starts to identify himself or herself with the broadcast character, subconsciously adopting his or her behavioral pattern. We think that we are guided by our own judgments, but our choice has been formed by the great power of advertising! The advertising unwittingly generates the needs that we don't have, creating an internal tension that we can defuse only by making another acquisition.
Advertising shapes the worldview, social values, culture, behavior, developing an addiction not only from shopping but also from alcohol, smoking and junk food. Nowadays its psychological impact is highly underestimated! Advertising turns an ordinary person into a cyborg, replacing values in his mind.
Why do we all still unconsciously buy the stereotypes and models?

Crowd Influence

Psychologists and pr-specialists know perfectly well that only a crowd can have the power higher than that of advertising. Society imposes certain stereotypes of thinking. Over time, the stereotypes change and people get new objectives.
The essence of existence is consumption. If you easily spend money in a large amount, so you have actualized yourself. If you can afford to buy an expensive thing, you are successful!
Well, if a person does not have such an opportunity, then he will easily watch this life in glossy magazines or on TV. Thus, the desire to these values is subconsciously developed. A person already goes shopping, buying high-status things, to prove the others that he has achieved something. Many people forget that the success and uniqueness depend only on themselves, and it doesn't matter whether we buy Goyard, Holland & Holland, Piaget or not.

So, how can one cope with shopping addiction?

Healing

There is a solution. It is absolutely the same as when a person has other behavioral and emotional addictions. First and foremost, be aware of your problem and examine the conditions that trigger the 'mechanism of failure'. Then you will be able to prevent its switching on.

Learn how to live your own life and make your own decisions, judging only by common sense and rationale. Resist the manipulation of your consciousness. And remember, unreasonable spendings can never satisfy real needs!