This is a follow up on the ADD or ADHD posts on spending and money problems. Many people use shopping as a way to deal with, or to avoid dealing with, painful and unpleasant feelings. It’s like a fix – buying something gives a brief period of feeling good – followed by the crash of remorse, guilt, etc. Buying must hit the dopamine pleasure centers just like speed, or candy or accomplishment or other things. It can work as an antidepressant. But short term only.
Sometimes I have seen the spending used as a form of rebellion, a resistance to a controlling partner for example.
There are strategies for dealing with spending, if it is a problem. (And with a controlling partner, for that matter. see The Dance of Anger by Lerner clik)
So one strategy would be to find the underlying issue and find some other way to deal with it.
doug 
aarp on spending clik
tip 341 on money problems clik
‘My father was a simple man, with very simple needs. All he ever really wanted was a whole lot of money.’
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yes, and besides, you might need them some day and its better to have too many than to not have enough – isn’t it? it gives a (false) sense of security.
thank you for commenting
doug
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Or if you are like me, you buy multiples of things to compensate for the things you can’t find or forget you already have…. Pens, whiteboard markers and journals are costly favourites for me!
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