“I became addicted to purchases. This problem must be taken more seriously”: what is oniomania and how social networks drive it more and more

A woman with short blond hair, stops in front of a clothing hanger and a mannequin — Photo foot, Lucy tells that his experiences of purchase addiction are like a “physical and emotional drowning.”

- Author, Nia Price
- Author's title, BBC News
7 hours

For some people, a day of “purchasing therapy” can be the perfect solution to feel better with themselves. But what happens when you can't stop buying?

Surrounded by hangers with shirts, dresses and sweaters, Lucy tells me that it can go up to 14 hours a day looking for new clothes to escape reality.

The life of this 37 -year -old woman may seem a dream, but Lucy is clear that excessive purchases harmed her life.

At one point, Lucy was forced not to pay bills to continue buying clothes.

“It's like a physical and emotional drowning. I have felt as if I were constantly under the weight of clothes,” he says.

Lucy has no idea how many garments he owns, but occupy an entire room of his house of West Yorkshire (northern England), as well as several suitcases and a depostio of more than 3 square meters.

“The clothes acted like a shell to not feel real life,” he explains.

Lucy created a fashion Instagram account and her purchases ended up “shooting” to the point that he spent the equivalent of US $ 930 a week, accumulating a debt of almost US $ 16,000.

“It was the first thing I thought when I woke up,” he acknowledges.

“You are still looking for clothes in the same way that someone can continue drinking because they have not reached the scope point he hoped to reach,” he remembers while still in his recovery process.

The moment he “click”

He says that seeing influencers with abundant amounts of clothes “normalized” his habits.

It wasn't until a therapist told him that he could have oniomania – the compulsive need to buy things – when he realized that it was possible to be addicted to purchases.

Describe the second cognitive-behavioral therapy session (TCC) of the NHS (United Kingdom Public Health System) in which he heard about the disorder as the moment he “click.”

Purchasing addiction, also known as compulsive purchase disorder, happens when people feel the uncontrolled need for shopping and spend, despite the negative consequences.

It is not known how many people suffer from this. An analysis of an investigation indicates that affects about 5% of adults, but a more recent study indicates that it may have increased to 10% from the pandemic.

Now, Lucy and others throughout the United Kingdom make a call so that there is better understanding of the condition and more support from NHS.

“I think that resources are currently needed. Research and knowledge of oniomania simply are not at the same level as substance addiction,” says Lucy.

A woman with dark long hair stops in front of a counter with perfumes — Photo foot, Natalie has about 400 perfume bottles that bought within two years.

Natalie has what she calls her “pantry of the final judgment”, with more than 100,000 homemade articles at his home in Rotherham (northern England).

The obsessive compulsive disorder (TOC) of this 40 -year -old woman “drives” to buy certain things, including a number and color of particular items.

The pantry of his house houses 300 dental paste tubes and 3,000 washing sponges.

“It was exacerbated to the point where I went out and could not relax until the trunk of the car was full of things,” says Natalie.

At the maximum point of its addiction, I went to stores every day and could spend up to US $ 4,000, including US $ 1,300 on dressing articles.

“I can't stop and I don't want to stop either. If I see something online, I need it. I don't care how, I need to have it.”

The mother of a son recently spent US $ 1,300 during a flight, mostly on perfumes, and confesses that he has about 400 fragrances, bought all in just over two years.

Natalie, who works as a private practice nurse, explains that advertising has a “huge effect” in its consumption habits and can spend about six hours a day watching online perfume videos when it is not working.

He has undergone both the NHS and private, but feels that he had no results because he is not yet ready to stop, although he is focused on trying to reduce his purchases.

“I think that each addiction should receive an equal treatment and that more help and therapy should be available (from the part of the NHS) for the people looking for them,” he says.

A young woman with long blond hair, with abundant makeup and pink shirt, takes a selfie with beauty accessories in the background — Photo foot, Zuzanna, 18, confessed to the BBC that she can spend all her salary to a week to pay her, mainly in beauty items.

The BBC has talked with 15 people who feel they have a purchase addiction.

Many referred to mental stress and feeling of guilt and shame. One said he had developed an eating disorder as a consequence, and another indicated that he became a “monster.”

All these people feel that social networks contributed to their addiction.

According to experts, the proportion of retail sales has more than duplicate in the last decade, increasing from 12% in May 2015 to 27% in May 2025.

The entity that promotes and regulates digital advertising in the United Kingdom, IAB UK, reports that advertising investment in social networks grew 20% last year, reaching a total of US $ 11,750 million.

Zaheen Ahmed, director of therapy of the UKAT Group, which manages addiction treatment centers throughout the country, points out that they have been seeing more people with purchase addiction.

He explains that hormonal anticipation of making a purchase can be equivalent to the reaction of a drug consumer when he manages to obtain a dose.

Ahmed states that the use of social networks as part of having a smartphone is the “new normality.”

“Social networks are impacting our lives but not being able to contribute to our impulse to buy, impulse to spend, impulse to interact all the time.”

A young woman with light long hair, with a white shirt, holds five Stanley containers — Photo foot, Ayce saw that Stanley brand containers were trend and ended up buying five.

Going shopping became a defense mechanism for the problems of trust and self -esteem that overwhelms Alyce.

He started using purchase plans now pays later at 18, a decision that describes as a “gateway” to other credits.

In the end, Alyce, which is from Bristol (west of England), was subject to almost US $ 12,000 in debts after spending up to US $ 1,000 per month on new items, particularly ordering online clothing.

“The more things we had to open, the more emotion was,” he acknowledges.

“But once I opened the packages, the emotion faded and saddened me again; and thus the cycle continued.”

“Social networks are essentially another version of QVC (a multinational purchase television channel from home), but one that the younger generations look,” says the 25 -year -old.

Alyce, who works in Business Administration, has managed to overcome his addiction with therapy and is currently almost free of debts.

“If I hadn't done that, I really don't know where it would have ended,” he says.

“Sincerely changes your way of thinking and stealthily invades everything you do, your whole life revolves around the day of payment, when you can buy again.”

“It simply becomes very overwhelming,” he says.

A smiling woman, sitting on the floor, surrounded by boxes, consults her laptop — Photo foot, A vicious circle of spending, buying, feeling pleasure with purchases and then remorse is generated.

The NHS declares that it is possible to become addicted to almost anything, but there is no specific diagnosis for purchase addiction.

One reason is because experts dispute how to classify it, with some believing that it is a behavioral addiction, while others associate it with compulsive mood disorders.

Ian Hamilton, a professor specialized in addiction at the University of York, says that purchase addiction has “taken by surprise psychiatry.”

The expert, who has worked in that field for three decades, believes that we are still two or three years to recognize the disorder more widely as a formal diagnosis.

He ensures that the commercial sector has adopted some of the strategies used by the gambling industry to retain online hooked to people.

“I don't think it's an accident that people find difficulties once they start this vicious circle of spending, buying, feeling pleasure and then remorse.”

The academic adds that the rise of influencers is not a simple coincidence.

“One thing is that they describe an article, but that does not have the same impact as seeing an attractive and well produced video sequence that praises the virtues of an article and only highlights the positive.”

Pamela Roberts, Psychotherapist from the Priory Group health provider, is clear about it: “We need to adopt different defense strategies, but we can only learn them when it is recognized as a problem and that will only happen when it is done officially.”

A NHS spokesman said: “NHS dialogue therapies provide treatment for a range of conditions including TOC and provide practical skills and techniques to help overcome them.”

He added that whoever has problems with obsessive compulsive disorder can contact your general practitioner or request to be referred to therapy.