{"id":2944,"date":"2023-11-26T14:00:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T19:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=2944"},"modified":"2023-11-26T07:10:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T12:10:31","slug":"shopping-feels-like-an-addiction-around-the-holidays-for-a-reason-experts-explain-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=2944","title":{"rendered":"Shopping Feels Like an Addiction Around the Holidays for a Reason. Experts Explain Why."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Shopping Feels Like an Addiction Around the Holidays for a Reason. Experts Explain Why.<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\u2019Tis the season of sales and shopping \u2014 but are you confident you\u2019ll be able to stop when you have enough?<\/b><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tBetween the decorations, feasts and gift-giving, the winter holidays give us plenty of reasons to spend money, which human brains find rewarding. As good as the initial feeling is, however, holiday spending habits may have some negative consequences.

\n\n\u201cWe can rationalize it at this point in the season, due to the fact that it is Thanksgiving, there are the sales coming up and I think many people get carried away,\u201d said Dr. Ashish Bhatt, medical content director for Addiction Center. \u201cBut if this continues on and again ultimately causes problems in your life financially or relationship wise, then it really mimics an addiction.\u201d

\n\nShopping may not be a diagnosable addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, that health professionals use to diagnose patients, but it is a behavior that can follow an addictive cycle, he added.

\n\nSometimes, people just spend more money than they should. Other times, they may start to feel anxiety creeping up about all the things they should buy, and it feels great when they get them, but the high goes away and they need to do it again, Bhatt said.

\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s when you probably are looking at a pattern of negative shopping behavior,\u201d he said. And sometimes, even after the holidays are over, it\u2019s hard to break that cycle once it has started.

\n\nWhether it\u2019s addictive or just a feeling of not being totally in control of spending, the holidays are a good time to look at your relationship with shopping.

\nWhy our brains like shopping <\/b>

\n\nIt\u2019s no surprise that shopping feels good \u2014 it feeds our brains\u2019 rewards systems.

\n\n\u201cThe reward system is a system that was built on earlier species than us, way back millions of years, to teach us what we needed to survive,\u201d said Dr. Ann-Christine Duhaime, distinguished professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. \u201cIf something is fun \u2026 that\u2019s generally a pretty good indication that it\u2019s the reward system in action.\u201d

\n\nPurchasing things gives the brain a hit of the chemical dopamine, Bhatt said. Dopamine is often called the \u201cfeel-good\u201d neurotransmitter.

\n\nOn top of that, many people are paid lots of money to make shopping feel even more rewarding, Duhaime said.

\n\n\u201cRetailers know very well how to make it fun for you and how to appeal to multiple things that humans find rewarding,\u201d she said.

\n\nThat could mean tying gift-giving to connection with commercials about how loved your friends and family will feel if you buy a certain gift or emphasizing competition by offering limited-time deals you need to race to get, Duhaime added.

\n\nIt was beneficial for our ancestors\u2019 survival to get what was needed with as little sacrifice as possible as well as to connect and fit in with others in their community, so those drives to shop, give gifts and find deals are strong, she said.

\nInternet shopping<\/b>

\n\nThe sacrifices needed to buy holiday gifts and goods drastically decrease when you go online, Duhaime said.

\n\nInstead of getting in your car, driving a distance, finding what you want in a store, waiting in a checkout line and handing over your cash or card, in the age of online shopping, you can press a couple of buttons from your couch, she added.

\n\n\u201cBasically, anything you could ever want to buy, dream of buying or think of buying is at our fingertips,\u201d said Alexandra Cromer, a licensed professional counselor based in Richmond, Virginia.\n\nAnd with features to save your credit card information on websites, there can be mere seconds between the moment you\u2019re thinking about something you want to buy and having already paid for it, Duhaime said.

\n\nThe less time it takes and the fewer barriers between you and a purchase, the less time there is to think about whether you really want or need it, she said.

\nLess shopping, more holiday cheer<\/b>

\n\nAs much as we want to give our families the best holidays ever every year, more shopping doesn\u2019t always bring us closer to that goal, Duhaime said.

\n\n\u201cThe rewards of shopping are extremely short-term. And after you shop and after the presents have all been opened, there\u2019s oftentimes a letdown. And then you start to have the guilt of the money that you overspent,\u201d she said.

\n\nWhen you picture a perfect Christmas of Hanukkah for your kids, you may think of new decorations and presents \u2014 even bigger and better than last year\u2019s \u2014 but our brains are also designed to find reward in familiarity, Duhaime said.

\n\n\u201cWhat kids actually want is, they want it to be the same every year,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is some connection to the past, to tradition, to the deeper meaning of a holiday, to just being together that people find extremely rewarding, and especially in times of rapid change like is happening now in the world, where science and technology are just changing so fast.\u201d

\n\nTwo of the biggest factors tied to long-term happiness and life satisfaction are relationships and a sense of purpose. Instead of searching for the holiday spirit by purchasing more things, Duhaime recommended focusing on gifts and activities that can bring people more connection and a sense of purpose.

\n\nDoing so may be tied to a meaningful memory, doing an activity together or finding something to help your child build a skill or passion.

\nHow to cut down<\/b>

\n\nA more meaningful, less shopping-frenzied holiday sounds nice, but it isn\u2019t always so easy to find.\n\nStart by recognizing that a lot of the seasonal pressure you feel comes from people trying to make money by selling you things \u2014 not necessary measures for a better holiday, Duhaime said.

\n\nNext, Bhatt recommended identifying your triggers. These could mean avoiding malls or big stores, limiting credit cards or talking with your loved ones about being mindful of shopping, he said.

\n\nThen, the best way to change a behavior is not to tell yourself to stop, but to replace it with something better, Duhaime said.

\n\nInstead of shopping, maybe go through your closet and have a swap with friends, she suggested. Or draw names so family members can focus on getting a great gift for one person rather than everyone.

\n\nAnd if you find yourself with similar habits after the holidays, Cromer recommended a detox in the beginning of the year. It could be a no-spend month in January or a softer break from shopping in which you focus on saving money for a bigger goal, she added.

\nBut addiction and addictive behaviors are driven by many factors \u2014 including genetics, environment and experiences \u2014 so it is possible that trauma or another mental health issue may contribute to the ways in which you shop, Bhatt said.

\n\n\u201cCognitive behavioral therapies are some of the best ways to actually address this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s super important that somebody who\u2019s struggling with that get the help that they deserve.\u201d


\n\nContributor: Madeline Holcombe, CNN Health<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shopping Feels Like an Addiction Around the Holidays for a Reason. Experts Explain Why. \u2019Tis the season of sales and shopping \u2014 but are you confident you\u2019ll be able to stop when you have enough? Between the decorations, feasts and gift-giving, the winter holidays give us plenty of reasons to spend money, which human brains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2944"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2948,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944\/revisions\/2948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}