Oniomania is characterized by excessive and uncontrolled concerns, needs, and behaviors about buying and spending. It results from a set of factors rather than a single cause, and it can be accompanied by various emotions (joy, power, excitement, disappointment …) There is no defined treatment but leads (psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy , support associations) can be considered. 

Definition

Oniomania is characterized by excessive and uncontrolled concerns, needs, and behaviors about buying and spending. In patients with oniomania, chronic purchases sometimes become the first response to a negative event or feeling. In most cases, oniomania is a chronic disorder with some periods of remission.

Types

In a 1988 publication, Gilles Valence proposed the following typology:

• The emotional consumer: he is very attached to the symbolism and the sentimental value of the object purchased.
• The impulsive consumer: he is invaded by a sudden and spontaneous desire to buy, and he presents a strong feeling of guilt after the act and the expenses incurred.
• The fanatic consumer: he’s a collector
• The compulsive buyer: for him, buying is a way of fighting against internal tensions, uncontrollable anxieties. He often experiences a strong feeling of frustration in the event of impediment (price constraint, family).

Causes

The etiology of oniomania is unknown. It results from a set of factors rather than a single cause even if anxiety seems to be one of the main causes.

In addition, hypotheses suggest that oniomania could have original causes:

• Psychological: problems of psychological origin (past sexual abuse, fantasies related to money) can be at the origin of oniomania. In this case, the purchase would be a way to fight against a feeling of humiliation.
• Neurobiological: disturbances in the neurotransmission systems that involve serotonin, dopamine and opioids.
• Cultural: oniomania mainly affects developed countries where the economy is market-based, the population is the target of permanent publicity and society is organized around leisure time.

Diagnostic

First, the practitioner questions the patient in a non-intrusive way in order to find out his problems with regard to purchases: Do you feel overly preoccupied with purchases and expenses? Have you ever felt like your shopping behavior was excessive, inappropriate or out of control?

In the event of positive answers, the questioning continues with more precise questions (description of excessive behavior, frequency of such behavior, type of purchases)

Several tools have been developed to identify oniomania or assess its severity:

• The Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) is designed to assess the degree of shopping addiction. The doctor asks a series of questions to the patient who must answer yes or no. The questions relate to the patient’s need to spend money, his awareness of the aberration of his behavior, the loss of control, his change of mood following a purchase and his financial problems.
• A modified version of the Yale-Brown scale, used as a measure of obsessive-compulsive disorder, assesses behaviors associated with oniomania.

The people concerned

In the United States, oniomania is thought to affect around 5,8%. 80 to 95% of people with oniomania are thought to be women. Chronic, the disorder usually manifests between the ages of 18 and 30.

Risk factors

Oniomania could be inherited. It would mainly affect families in which disorders related to mood, anxiety and substance use are excessive.

Shopping

People with oniomania have a frequent and overwhelming urge to buy for themselves or for others. Most prefer to be alone to buy. The need is episodic, it typically lasts an hour and can occur at different frequencies (once a week, a day or even an hour).

Clothing, shoes, jewelry and makeup are the most popular items. Most of the time, the items are not big and inexpensive, but they are bought in large quantities. In addition, men are of particular interest in electronics, automobiles and computer hardware.

Associated emotions

The purchase immediately triggers various emotions such as joy, power or sexual arousal. And it can be followed by a feeling of disappointment, guilt or remorse over the consequences of the purchases.

Co-morbidity

Oniomania is often associated with mood swings, depressive states, bipolar disorders, anxiety, illicit drug use, personality disorders, appetite disturbances (bulimia), attempts suicides or even kleptomania.

There is no well-defined treatment for oniomania, but the following avenues can be considered:

Psychotherapy

• Psychoanalysis
• Individual or group psychotherapies
• Cognitive behavioral therapies

Pharmacotherapy

• Antidepressants, including serotonin reuptake inhibitors (duloxetine, milnacipran, venlafaxine) may be prescribed to regulate compulsive shopping.

Other approaches

• Using a credit counseling agency can help some people with oniomania
• Participate in support groups such as Debtors Anonymous. The association was developed in 1976 in the United States by members of Alcoholics Anonymous. And since then, it has established itself all over the world, especially in France.