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 I'm sure we've all been shopping before, whether we've looked for clothes or a new lawn mower. But have you ever wondered if the person standing behind you in line was crazy for buying those $200 jeans or that $1375 weed cutter? Have you ever seen those teenagers with credit cards? Did you ever think those people were compulsive buyers?

Addictions do not happen because a person feels like doing it, especially compulsive buying. One of the main reasons compulsive buying occurs, is because a person has low self-esteem. To boost their esteem, they buy merchandise. They are “looking outward to fix the inward” (True Life). They hope that if they buy these things, they’ll be able to fix the way they feel, but in reality, it temporarily gives them a “high.”

The two girls knew they were in trouble. Gabby dug her parents into a deep debt, maxing out three credit cards of her own, along with her mother’s. In total, her family owes close to $25,000. She knows that she needs to get better, but refuses to see a therapist like her father had asked her to do. Ali also knows she needs help. However, Ali does go see a therapist. Within a few sessions, Ali knows that she needs intensive therapy, which she finds at a rehab center. As much as she needs to go there, she cannot afford the cost of it. As a result, Ali gives up on hope. She knows that her problems will never go away and reverts back to her old self. She is now more than $15,000 in debt, and depends on her boyfriend, Kyle, to help her pay her bills.

Compulsive buying does not appear in twenty-four hours. It takes years and years for the addiction to become noticeable. One of the largest influences of compulsive buying originates from a person’s adolescence years. The way an adolescent is raised affects their compulsiveness. As a person was growing up, maybe their parents lent them their credit cards to use when they went shopping. Or maybe they were teased when they were in high school and to compensate for their low self-esteem, they bought expensive merchandise to show off.

-edited paragraphs + 2 new ones

I'm sure we've all been shopping before, whether we've looked for clothes or a new lawn mower. But have you ever wondered if the person standing behind you in line was crazy for buying those $200 jeans or that $1375 weed cutter? Have you ever seen those teenagers with credit cards? Did you ever think those people have a problem known as compulsive buyers?

Addictions do not happen because a person feels like doing having an addiction, especially compulsive buying. One of the main reasons compulsive buying occurs, is because a person has low self-esteem. To boost their esteem temporarily, they buy merchandise. They are “looking outward to fix the inward” (True Life). They hope that if they buy such things, they’ll be able to fix the way they feel, but in reality, it temporarily gives them a “high.”

The two girls knew they were in trouble. Gabby dug her parents into a deep hole, maxing out three credit cards of her own, along with her mother’s. In total, her family owes close to $25,000. She knows that she needs to get better, but refuses to see a therapist like her father had asked her to do. Ali also knows she needs help. However, Ali does go see a therapist. Within a few sessions, Ali knows that she needs intensive therapy, which she finds at a rehab center. As much as she needs to go there, she cannot afford the cost of it. She and her mother cannot pay for the costs, which causes Ali to give up. She knows that her problems will never go away and reverts back to her old self. She is now more than $15,000 in debt, and depends on her boyfriend, Kyle, to help her pay her bills.

Compulsive buying does not appear in twenty-four hours. It takes years and years for the addiction to become noticeable. One of the largest influences of compulsive buying originates from a person’s adolescence years. The way an adolescent is raised affects their compulsiveness. For example, as a person was maturing, their parents might have lent them their credit cards to use. After a few years of being able to use the credit card, the idea of having one doesn’t leave their mind. They think they can borrow it whenever they want. Or maybe they were teased when they were in high school and to compensate for their low self-esteem, they bought expensive merchandise to show off.

Do we really understand what an addiction is? Many of us just think it’s an obsession. It’s more than just an obsession though; addictions are like being on life-support for some people. If they don’t include their addictions into daily activities or if they try to ignore the urges they get, anxiety builds up. Anxiety is the “distress or uneasiness of the mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune” (Merriam-Webster). Examples of addictions are drinking, eating, gambling and smoking.

How do you know whether a person is a compulsive buying or not? There are many differences that can be seen. The main one is their behavior when buying. The average buyer can control what they buy and how much they spend. They can pick up something that catches their eye, but then put it back down and leave. However, obsessive buyers are complete opposites. They are controlled by the item and their money. If they see something that looks nice or they want, they buy it without hesitation. When they get home, sometimes they can’t remember why they bought it but won’t return it.

--edited paragraphs + 2 new ones

I'm sure we've all been shopping before, whether we've looked for clothes or a new lawn mower. But have you ever wondered if the person standing behind you in line was crazy for buying those $200 jeans or that $1375 weed cutter? Have you ever seen those teenagers with credit cards? Did you ever think those people have a problem known as compulsive buyers?

Addictions do not happen because a person feels like doing having an addiction, especially compulsive buying. One of the main reasons compulsive buying occurs, is because a person has low self-esteem. To boost their esteem temporarily, they buy merchandise. They are “looking outward to fix the inward” (True Life). They hope that if they buy such things, they’ll be able to fix the way they feel, but in reality, it temporarily gives them a “high.”

The two girls knew they were in trouble. Gabby dug her parents into a deep hole, maxing out three credit cards of her own, along with her mother’s. In total, her family owes close to $25,000. She knows that she needs to get better, but refuses to see a therapist like her father had asked her to do. Ali also knows she needs help. However, Ali does go see a therapist. Within a few sessions, Ali knows that she needs intensive therapy, which she finds at a rehab center. As much as she needs to go there, she cannot afford the cost of it. She and her mother cannot pay for the costs, which causes Ali to give up. She knows that her problems will never go away and reverts back to her old self. She is now more than $15,000 in debt, and depends on her boyfriend, Kyle, to help her pay her bills.

Compulsive buying does not appear in twenty-four hours. It takes years and years for the addiction to become noticeable. One of the largest influences of compulsive buying originates from a person’s adolescence years. The way an adolescent is raised affects their compulsiveness. For example, as a person was maturing, their parents might have lent them their credit cards to use. After a few years of being able to use the credit card, the idea of having one doesn’t leave their mind. They think they can borrow it whenever they want. Or maybe they were teased when they were in high school and to compensate for their low self-esteem, they bought expensive merchandise to show off.

Do we really understand what an addiction is? Many of us just think it’s an obsession. It’s more than just an obsession though; addictions are like being on life-support for some people. If they don’t include their addictions into daily activities or if they try to ignore the urges they get, anxiety builds up. Anxiety is the “distress or uneasiness of the mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune” (Merriam-Webster). Examples of addictions are drinking, eating, gambling and smoking.

How do you know whether a person is a compulsive buying or not? There are many differences that can be seen. The main one is their behavior when buying. The average buyer can control what they buy and how much they spend. They can pick up something that catches their eye, but then put it back down and leave. However, obsessive buyers are complete opposites. They are controlled by the item and their money. If they see something that looks nice or they want, they buy it without hesitation. When they get home, sometimes they can’t remember why they bought it but won’t return it.

For my senior seminar project, I conducted a survey, similar to the one distributed at National Taipei University. The one given out in Taiwain consisted of 26 questions, categorized under five topics: information about their shopping habits, personality traits, degree of passion for shopping, tendency toward compulsive buying behaviors, and the level of online shopping dependency. The survey was given out to 700 students and took approximately ten minutes to take. However, only 403 surveys were used for comparison and research. It helped the university further understand the relationship between personality and compulsive buying. My survey was given to current senior seminar students, which was completed anonymously.

When people are anxious, they are vulnerable to turning to easy ways to temporarily calm themselves, such as food, alcohol, drugs, TV, and shopping. We are living in increasingly anxious times, financially and otherwise. So, people turn to shopping to escape or give themselves a boost, lift or a treat that momentarily preoccupies them and gives them a sense of power, control, newness, perfection, stability or “contentment.” Of course, when the negative consequences and secrets mount so, too, does the anxiety, and then the vicious cycle begins—more shopping to cover up more anxiety… until there is a crisis or a discovery of the problem and then the bubble bursts and real recovery can begin. (Shulman interview)