Can aniexty cause shopping addiction?

[Joellie]

Im currently at the point in my treatment where ive been on citalopram for about 10 months now and generally good all round a few hiccups here and there but overall im quite good.

However recently ive been spending and spending and spending and i cant stop myself. Once i go into town I see things i like and i get them without even trying to convince myself to wait or to tell myself i dont need it.

I buy things i need and things that i dont need but for some reason my usual voice of 'can you afford this? do you need this?' is absent. Its only after ive left the shop that i feel realy guilty about it and really bad. And its like im beating myself up about it. I can afford some things but not nearly as much as ive been spending recently.

Its like i get a kick out of having something new. Im not in a great way with my self esteem about myself or my appearance and i feel like buying nice things means peopel will look at the nice things rather than me! I take about 25% of what i buy back because once im home i realise i cant afford it. However once im in shops its like i get gripped again and somtimes i just exchange rather than return and i feel bad all over again!

Its started mainly when i started uni and i got my student loans. But im getting worried now and in a way i feel i should get help for it!

What do you think?

[kibbutz83]

Hi Joellie, yes I think anxiety definitely causes all sorts of addictions. I am a shopaholic too, I think cos it makes me forget my situation while I've got the "buzz" of buying something nice. I also spend too much on food cos I don't have my smoking habit to fall back on anymore. I'm not actually sure how we can "cure" ourselves of it though :( It's a replacement for something that's missing maybe, or an emotional situation that hasn't been resolved? Hope you find a solution before you go bankrupt :)

[MidnightCalm]

My anxiety causes all sorts of addictions, it's just something for me to do, look forward to, focus on and just get lost in (shopping) it's like a release, I treat myself all the time, to things that're really expensive and I shouldn't really buy them :/

[sophiethestar]

I think so. When I'm at my most anxious/stressed I shop wayyyy more than usual. Mainly because I become careless with money at those times, and new stuff always makes me feel better. It's okay to have a little retail therapy every-so-often, but try to nail the addiction because you could get yourself into a bit of financial trouble and it would cause more anxiety. Maybe try keeping an account book of everything you spend to help you keep track of your money. :) x