5 minutes

The scourge of compulsive buying

Dr..

Alaa Jarrad

Garad@alaagarad.com

November 15 2021

For some, shopping and buying is a great pleasure, especially for young people who are interested in fashion, and e-shopping has become the first way to shop in many countries, especially with the expansion of huge electronic stores such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Shen and Joom, but has become most of the well-known retail stores. It has an electronic portal, especially during the closure due to the “Covid” epidemic.

Of course, buying something useful that we need for ourselves or our loved ones is a great pleasure, but the problem is that this matter has turned into an addiction and a pathological phenomenon, as the so-called compulsive buying or compulsive buying has spread.

Some people enjoy buying a lot of low-priced products, but it may turn into compulsive behavior, and buying only for the purpose of buying, where a person buys goods that he does not need, but may make excuses for himself or those around him that he needs them, and the matter ends in an endless series of purchases and accumulation of collectibles. And what made matters worse is facilitating the purchase process. It is literally enough to click on the “Buy” button on the Amazon website, and the purchases will be sent the next day if you are a member of the Prime Club. You may not even need to pay immediately, as the deferred purchase that It is offered by companies such as “Klarna”, which is the common denominator for all those obsessed with buying addiction. Such companies pay the price in installments for several months, and give you a grace period for the first payment, and then everything is facilitated, but soon the drunkenness goes away and the idea comes - as in the old saying - Where debts begin to accumulate and homes are crowded with useless purchases, the loss of the source of income may occur and the issue turns into tension and then depression.

There are many reasons that lead to the scourge of compulsive buying, including attracting attention, imitating peers, and showing off. Austrian researcher “Karl Kohlmann” says that many seek to relieve the stress that arises at the end of a stressful working day by rewarding themselves with the purchase of a new item. Addiction such as drug addiction or any other type of addiction.

I hope that the media, community institutions, educational institutions, opinion leaders, psychologists and sociologists, and all those concerned will join hands in intensifying awareness-raising campaigns, alerting people to the importance of thinking and stopping before buying, and asking ourselves: Can life go on as it is without buying that purpose?

Do I really need it?

Is it worth the price?

We also need to learn to live simply and dispense with many possessions, and the closure has proven to us that we can dispense with a lot of clothes and material items, and a person can be satisfied with two or three sets of clothes, and two or three pairs of shoes for a long period of time.

We must teach our children economy in spending, saving and preparing for what is to come, as no one is safe from the vicissitudes of days, and extravagance is one of the reprehensible habits, and God Almighty has described the wasteful as brothers of the devils.

• “Can life go on as it is without buying that item?

Do I really need it?

Is it worth the price?”

@Brothers_Garden

Garad@alaagarad.com

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Garad@alaagarad.com