During these days of gifts and shopping, the risk for addicted individuals increases. CCAdicciones, which also assists people with this addiction, offers a free first visit in these cases.
The signs of a possible shopping addiction, according to Sandra Anguita, Psychologist at CCAdicciones, can be found in the honest answers to a series of questions:
- Does the desire to shop become impossible to control?
- Is shopping done during moments of sadness and/or euphoria?
- When shopping, are the emotions felt during the purchase intense?
- And once the purchase is made, is there a sense of relief or satisfaction beyond the functionality of the act?
- Do we shop for the sake of shopping?
Finally, it is necessary to look at what happens after the act of purchasing. If what we have bought no longer interests us, if we feel guilty for having “overbought,” or if the person themselves considers it a problem they would like to control…
Generally, several years pass from the appearance of the first symptoms until a diagnosis is made because the individual often lacks awareness of the illness and family members may take time to realize the situation, according to the experience of Javier Porto, therapeutic coordinator at CCAdicciones.
