Identity Essay

Brittany Tebbe
English 201
March 21, 2012
Dr. Justin Blessinger
Purchasing Unnecessary Items
Compulsive buying disorder is defined a chronic repetitive purchasing that is the cause of negative events and feelings in one’s life.   It also could include symptoms of craving and withdrawal.   Also called shopping addiction, it can be caused by triggers, or an event or circumstance that leads to unwanted behavior.   Compulsive buyers go out and buy unnecessary things for many reasons.
Emily Kraepplin and Eugen Bleuler were the first to describe compulsive buying in the early 20th Century.   They were first able to diagnosis it in 1994 and was polished later on.   These criteria describe symptoms of craving and withdrawal (Impulsive-Compulsive Buying Disorder).
Studies have shown that about five percent of adults have compulsive buying disorder, and 92 percent of them are women; the average age of a compulsive buyer is thirty years old.   According to psychiatrics and psychologists that specialize in addictions, compulsive buyers have repetitive and overpowering urges to buy things, a lot like people with a substance addiction.   A compulsive buyer focuses on the buying process; they purchase these goods just to say they have possession of them, rather than to actually use them for something.   There are many disorders that go along with Compulsive Buying Disorder, like buying during maniac episodes, buying related to psychosis, buying during mood disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, eating disorders, and substance use disorders and impulsive compulsive disorders (Compulsive Buyers).
Excessive or unnecessary buying is a very common symptom of maniac episodes.   This behavior is driven by people not being able to control themselves, but this is the only way they are able to do so.   People who have schizophrenia also may have a problem with excessive buying, or Compulsive Buying Disorder.   For example, some people even buy electronics to keep in contact with “aliens,”... [continues]

Read full essay