Online Shopping Addiction And Mental Illness: Is There A Relationship?

Emails that indicate promotions, targeted ads and even text messages … suddenly you draw your credit card and it's time to shop on the Internet! Does this happen to you several times a week or a day? So, you may be unwittingly suffering from a shopping addiction that was recently recognized as a mental disorder. But are there any studies and sources that prove this condition which seems harmless at first glance? Decryption!

Online shopping addiction described as mental disorder by study

Indeed, it is about a study carried out by the doctor Astrid Müller, psychotherapist of the School of Medicine of Hanover. The results of his research were published in the specialist journal Comprehensive Psychiatry. Dr. Müller has set out to examine the growing popularity of online shopping. What is more, the number of these platforms of temptation is increasing considerably day by day.

But what exactly is research? Then, 122 people believing to have an addiction to shopping on the Internet participated in a game of questions and answers. Thus, thanks to these 122 participants, Astrid Müller and her team were able to conclude that compulsive shopping online is attributed to mental illness. But is that all? Not at all.

During the research carried out by the psychotherapist and her team, a rather interesting fact was discovered. They found that online shopping addiction mostly affects people with depression and anxiety. And English specialists have even given a name to this condition: OBSD, online-buying-shopping-disorder. Is this the evil of the century?

According to some experts, people with a shopping addiction have a hard time getting out of it for a number of reasons. On the one hand, the individual is not at all aware that he has a serious problem. Very often, it is close friends and family who notice the financial situation and distress. On the other hand, this mental illness is largely attributed to the present times and with good reason because as mentioned above, the number of online shops does not stop increasing, which will further worsen the condition of those affected..

However, you have to know not only to find the balance but to ask for help from a specialist in the event of a very serious addiction!