Compulsive shoppers should ask themselves 'why' they're buying
BNN Bloomberg
Chantel Chapman, co-founder of financial literacy program The Trauma of Money says many people tend to unconsciously overspend or compulsively spend to soothe feelings of pain or discomfort.
TORONTO - While isolated during the height of the pandemic, 28-year-old Bonny Clea would turn to online shopping as a way of comforting herself.
“Without access to socializing or spending time outside of the home, it became almost a necessity to purchase things online,'' said Clea, who lives in Salt Spring Island, B.C. and is the founder of a trauma-informed wellness company.
“I would spend more on the products I purchased as a way to ensure I was spending for quality versus quantity. Home goods and clothes were the items I spent the most money on ... These purchases were not always well thought out, simply because I was buying out of a state of self-soothing,'' she said.
According to Chantel Chapman, a Richmond, B.C.-based financial educator and co-founder of The Trauma of Money, a financial literacy program, many people tend to unconsciously overspend or compulsively spend to soothe feelings of pain or discomfort.
The behaviour can be habit-forming.
That's because spending can create a dopamine rush, also known as a pleasure surge. Dopamine itself is a neurotransmitter and our brains are consistently releasing a baseline of this molecule, but when there is an anticipation of a reward, like owning a new outfit for example, the brain creates a rush or hit of dopamine that temporarily can make you feel pleasure, Chapman said.
